If You Needed Somebody
by Alethea27
Summary: What if Lily was engaged to James, but in love with Sev? What if Severus didn't return her feelings at first? This story is AU and NOT canon-compliant. Please read and review. Image is credited to dancingcarrot21 at deviantart.
1. Chapter 1

**If You Needed Somebody**

**Disclaimer**: The plot is mine, but all the main characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not own or profit from any of them.

What if Lily was engaged to James, but in love with Sev? What if Severus didn't return her feelings at first? This story is AU, not even remotely canon and never will be! Constructive reviews, comments or suggestions are welcome, but flamming my story or me personally is not. Don't like, don't read!

**Warning:** A lot of Marauder bashing! Bad Dumbledore and McGonagall! I know that in canon the Dursley's were child-abusing creeps who never got the punishment they so richly deserved, but for the purpose of this story, Petunia and Vernon are nice, reasonable people.

Story title from a song by Bad Company, Composers, Brain Howe and Terry Thomas, 'Holy Water' album, 1990.

**Chapter 1**

The weather had been foul for the last two weeks. Thunderstorms, lightning, and pouring rain had pelted down on the school seemingly without end, but miraculously on graduation morning it had stopped and the sun had come out. The 1978 Graduation of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry could be held outside as originally planned. There was a small stage set up with a podium on it and on the right side of the stage were the students from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff houses while Ravenclaw and Slytherin students sat on the left side of the stage. The families of the graduating students sat directly in front of the podium.

Severus Snape, 18, sat slouched down in his chair, looking bored as he listened to Dumbledore droning on and on. Severus was tall and lean, with thick, raven black, chin-length hair and eyes so dark they looked black. His skin was pale and his face was thin with high cheekbones and his nose, while rather long was not out of proportion to the rest of his features. He alternated between sneering and rolling his eyes at the old fart's speech encouraging unity in the face of the growing powers of Lord Voldemort. Considering that he had treated Slytherin House like a poor, unwanted relation for the entire seven years Severus had attended Hogwarts, he figured Dumbledore was sitting up in his ivory tower, scratching his boney arse and wondering why many of Slytherin house had decided to throw their lot in with the aforementioned person. Severus had no use for Voldemort or Dumbledore. He thought they were two sides of the same Galleon: both egomaniacal, power-crazed individuals who used people for their own gain and discarded them like garbage when they'd served their purpose. The Gryffindorks were probably eating his speech up though. Severus eyes roamed over the audience. He had no family as his mother had died during his sixth year and his father the past January. He spotted his former best friend's parents, Richard and Iris Evans and Lily's older sister, Petunia seated in the front row. Seated next to them was Amelia Potter, James Potter's mother. He didn't see Orion and Walburga Black anywhere; he'd heard from Reg that they'd disowned his older brother so they wouldn't bother attending his graduation. His attention was pulled back to Dumbledore when he announced, "There are some special awards I need to hand out before the diplomas so I hope you'll bear with me." He took out a scroll tied with a red ribbon. "Our first award, the Miranda Goshawk Award for Excellence in Charms is awarded this year to Miss Lily Elizabeth Evans of Gryffindor House. Miss Evans also served as our Head Girl this year." There was a great deal of clapping as Lily headed up to the stage

Severus watched as Lily stepped up to the podium to receive her award. She was, as always, beautiful. Her deep auburn hair showed traces of gold in the sunlight and he knew her emerald green eyes would be alight with the same delighted surprise they'd displayed the first time she'd seen Hogwarts. As she accepted the award from Dumbledore and shook his hand, something on her left hand caught the light, sparkling brightly. Severus made a face. It was her engagement ring from Potter. How could he have forgotten? After the Gryffindor – Ravenclaw Quidditch match a month ago, Potter, always the show off, had grabbed the Magical Megaphone and proposed to Lily. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned slightly to see Darius Wilkes. "The Dark Lord is going to be at Malfoy Manor tonight and he wants you to join him."

Severus shrugged Wilkes' hand off his shoulder and growled, "Shove off, Wilkes. I'm not interested."

"The Dark Lord is going to win and if you're not on his side when he does, you die, Snape."

"Go peddle your crap to someone who cares," Severus muttered, turning back around and folding his arms across his chest. He smirked. He'd already announced his post-graduation plan was to lay on a beach in the Caribbean somewhere, dead drunk.

"Our next award is the Beaumont Marjoribanks Award for Excellence in Herbology this year goes to Miss Alice Abigail Warwick also of Gryffindor House." Alice was a modest girl with short, curly brown hair, a round face, and blue eyes. She was engaged to Frank Longbottom who had already graduated and was in his second year at the Auror Academy. She was one Gryffindor Severus really liked as she had stepped in and volunteered to be his partner in Potions after he and Lily had their falling out, ignoring the taunts from her fellow housemates. They had worked amicably together with him helping her to achieve an O in Potions which she'd needed to become an Auror and her helping him to receive an O in Herbology. She accepted her award from Dumbledore and returned quietly to her seat amid much clapping.

"Quiet down please," Dumbledore requested. "The next award is the Alastor Moody Award for Excellence in Defense Against the Dark Arts and this year it is awarded to Mr. Remus John Lupin, another proud member of Gryffindor House."

"Are the Gryffindorks going to win all the awards?" Severus heard somebody in front of him complain. He watched Remus make his way up to the stage, looking older and more tired than an eighteen year-old should look. Severus really had nothing against Lupin either aside from the fact he had no backbone to speak of. Lupin had been a Prefect and never once stepped in to stop his friends, Potter, Black, and Pettigrew when they were bullying him. Under different circumstances, he and Lupin might have been good friends.

"Mr. Lupin has also accepted my offer to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts starting September first," Dumbledore announced. He paused then said. "Finally, I have two prestigious awards to give out. They are the Nicolas Flamel Award for Excellence in Potions and the Bridget Wenlock Award for Excellence in Arithmancy. The Flamel was last awarded in 1900 and the Wenlock award in 1960. This year they are both awarded to Mr. Severus Snape of Slytherin House. Mr. Snape also served in the capacity as our Head Boy this year."

Severus rose and walked to the stage, accepted the two scrolls tied with a green ribbons, shook Dumbledore's hand and returned to his seat, ignoring the hisses and boos from some of the audience and the name calling from Potter, Black, and Pettigrew.

To cover the audience's displeasure of a Slytherin winning two of the most prestigious award given at Hogwarts, Dumbledore quickly began handing out the diplomas. After he had handed out the last one he said, "I wish the class of 1978 great luck in wherever their paths may take them."

Severus had packed his trunk the night before, shrunk it and placed it in his pocket before the ceremony. If he never saw Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry again, it would be too soon. He jumped up and started in the direction of the front gates. Once at the end of the driveway, he could apparate.

"Sev!" He stopped and turned to see Lily's parents, followed by her sister, Petunia, hurrying in his direction. Iris pulled him into a hug. "My you've gotten tall, but you're still too thin." She complained.

Severus smiled. Iris had always complained about him being too thin and had always stuffed him with food whenever he came over. He noticed the engagement ring on Petunia's left hand. "I see you're engaged. Congratulations."

Petunia blushed. "Thank you, Severus. His name is Vernon Dursley and he's very nice."

"Where have you been staying, Sev?" Richard asked. "We haven't seen you since the beginning of fifth year."

Severus figured Lily had told them about him calling her a Mudblood and they probably didn't want to see him, but apparently she hadn't. "I've stayed here during the holidays as there wasn't any reason to return home and the last two summers I've worked for the owners of Slug and Jiggers and stayed in a room over their shop."

"We're having a party later to celebrate Lily's graduation and we'd like it very much if you could come, Sev," Iris said.

"Thanks, Mrs. Evans, but I'm going to be starting full-time at the College of Potions on Monday. I was granted early admission last spring because of my OWL scores and I've been taking classes at the college this year. I'm going to spend the weekend moving into the dormitory. I'm also going to be still working at Slug and Jiggers while I attend college and I'm also taking a class twice weekly in the evening at the Ministry." He had absolutely no desire to go to a party that he was certain Lily didn't want him at and all the Marauders were attending.

So, we won't see you either this summer," Richard said in a disappointed tone. He liked Sev and considered him like his own son ever since Lily had first brought him home with her when they were nine. It was too bad she had chosen to marry that irritating, arrogant foghorn, James Potter, instead of Sev.

"You'll see me because I still have my parent's home and whether I keep it or sell it, it's going to require a massive amount of cleaning and fixing. I'll probably be doing that on the weekends." Out of the corner of his eye he could see Lily heading towards her parents with Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew in tow. "I just want to say I appreciate all the things you've done for me and all the care you've given me since I was nine. Thank you for all of it." He quickly disappeared into the crowd of parents and student, went out the gate to the bottom of the driveway, and apparated.

"Sev!" Lily called, rushing up, but he was already lost in the crowd. She looked very disappointed. "I wanted to congratulate him on winning those awards. It was quite an honor."

Sirius Black gave his trademark bark of laughter. "I'm surprised Snivellus didn't win an award for being the greasiest student Hogwarts has ever had! I felt sorry for Dumbledore when Snivellus shook his hand." Sirius was tall and had black, curly shoulder-length hair and brown eyes with movie star good looks.

"I heard You-Know-Who's going to be at Malfoy Manor tonight so Snivvy's probably rushing off so he can be the first on his block to get the dark mark." James said sarcastically.

"He said he was starting college classes on Monday and was moving into the dormitory this weekend," Iris said, giving James a glare.

"Well, he's hardly going to tell you he getting the dark mark tonight, Mrs. Evans," James said.

"James, why don't you just shut it?" Lily snapped irritably. "You're giving me a headache!"

"I'm sorry, Lils, but Snivellus was never your true friend. He can't make friends or keep them. You don't need him anymore anyway because you have Me, Sirius, Remus, and Peter."

**Page Break ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Page Break**

Severus apparated into the backyard of his home not even stopping to think if the _Notice-Me-Not_ spell his mother had cast was still in effect. He opened the back door; it wasn't locked and entered the kitchen and nearly groaned when he saw its condition. Dirty plates with crusted food on them, soiled cutlery, cold cups of tea, and half-filled glasses of beer were piled in the sink. The garbage can underneath the sink was overflowing. The linoleum floor was old and cracked in places. The stove was covered with baked-on food and grease. The wallpaper behind it was dark and stained. Beer and liquor bottles littered the floor. Roaches scuttled around the counter and mice scurried off in fright. Severus shuddered at the mess. He walked through the dining room and into the living room. Both rooms contained the same type of mess, plates crusted with old food, soiled cutlery, cups of half-drunk tea, beer and liquor bottles and old newspapers scattered all over the floor. The house smelled really rancid. Tobias apparently had not done even minor cleaning of any sort since his mum's death. Severus sighed and went up the stairs to his bedroom. He took down the wards and opened the door. His room was exactly the way he'd left it on the morning he'd left for his sixth year at Hogwarts. It was dusty and musty smelling, but untouched. He threw open all the windows, allowing the fresh air in. He sat down at his desk, enjoying the fresh air. He wondered why Lily would suddenly want to see him, even calling him by her chosen nickname of Sev. She hadn't spoken to him since he called her that awful name fifth year. As Head Boy and Girl, they managed to be polite to each other when they had to be, but stayed clear of one another otherwise. He'd spent most of his time studying in the library while Lily used the Head's suite, studying with Potter, Black, and Lupin. He got up, changed out of his Hogwarts uniform for the very last time, and pulled his trunk out of the pocket of his robe. He resized it with a tap of his wand. He opened it and began unpacking, hanging up his Hogwarts robes in the closet, his shirts, and blazer. He went through his textbooks, tossing most of them into pile in the corner of his room. The only ones he kept were his books on Arithmancy, Herbology, and his Ancient Runes dictionary. He packed them neatly in his trunks and added his new textbooks, new robes, oxford shirts, and black pants and ties. He was thankful for the potions and spells he'd invented while still at Hogwarts as the money he received from them was paying for college and his eventual apprenticeship. He was just finishing up adding a few more items to his trunk when he heard voices outside. He went over to the window and saw Lily, Potter, Black and Pettigrew.

"Merlin, Lils, this is where Snivellus lives? What a dump!" Severus heard Potter say.

He heard Black's barking laughter. "A dump, Prongs? That's a compliment!"

Pettigrew's twitter of laughter followed Black's comment. "Good one, Padfoot!"

"Not everybody's lucky enough to be born with silver spoons in their mouths!" Lily said tartly as she knocked on the front door.

"Well, it looks as if Snivvy wasn't even born with a tin spoon in his mouth," Sirius snorted.

"Don't knock too hard, Lils," James advised. "The door might fall in!" His comment was followed by more snorts of laughter from Black and Pettigrew.

After a few more knocks Lily gave up and Severus heard their voices fade as they walked back up the street to Lily's home. '_Great!'_ Severus thought in disgust. _'Now, I'll have to ward my house to protect it from those three dirtbags!'_ He finished packing, shrunk his trunk again, and placed it in his pocket. He went downstairs and before leaving, opened all the downstairs windows. Maybe, the house wouldn't smell so bad by the time he returned. He grabbed the small china cauldron (one of the few things Tobias had never destroyed in one of his drunken rages) that his mum had always kept the floo powder in. There was enough for one trip. Severus made a mental note to stop in Diagon Alley and buy more before he returned. He took the last of it, stepped into the fireplace and said clearly, "College of Potions, London," and threw the powder down. When he stopped spinning, he stepped out into a large atrium. There was a reception desk in front of him and comfortable furniture scattered around. The atrium opened out on a large courtyard which also contained table and chairs plus what looked like a large garden.

A man stepped out of the office that was behind the reception desk. He spotted Severus, smiled and came over to him. "Welcome," He shook Severus' hand. "I'm Dean Roger Stanwood."

"I'm Severus Snape," Severus replied.

"From Hogwarts. We've heard a lot of good things about you, Mr. Snape."

Severus briefly wondered from whom the dean had heard about him. It certainly wasn't anyone at Hogwarts as most of the professors, with the exceptions of Sprout and Flitwick, hadn't given a crap about him, despite having top grades. His attention was drawn back to Dean Stanwood as he suggested a brief tour of the college. As the Dean Stanwood showed him the classrooms and the state-of-the-art potion laboratories, he remarked, "It was I that suggested to Professor Dumbledore last spring that you be allowed to take some classes here in addition to your regular Hogwarts curriculum based on your OWL score and the fact that you've already patented two potions before your eighteenth birthday. He consented, but he didn't appear happy about it."

"It's a good thing I could do it because I was pretty bored the last two years of Potions and Professor Slughorn didn't believe in Independent Studies," Severus answered. He grinned inwardly as he imagined the tantrum Dumbledore must have thrown at a Slytherin getting ahead of his precious Marauders.

Dean Stanwood continued his tour, showing Severus where the cafeteria was located and taking him outside to show him the college's extensive garden that grew all kinds of herbs and magical plants. He wondered if they were allowed to take any cuttings. His mum had had a garden when he was a child and she had taught him a lot about herbs and magical plants. He decided to ask as he wanted to replant a garden in her memory. "Dean Stanwood, are students allowed to take cutting from the plants in the garden?"

The dean nodded. "Yes, as long as you're careful not to damage the plants."

Severus smiled. He'd been gathering plants and herbs for his potion experiments from around Hogwarts since his fourth year. Lily used to go with him …but, he wasn't going to think about her. She and Potter would soon be married and there was no point in thinking about other times.

Dean Stanwood showed him how to get to the dormitory and stopped in front of a door, took a key out of his pocket, and unlocked the door and opened it. "This is your room, Mr. Snape. You requested a single with no roommate. I will leave you to get unpacked and settled." He handed Severus his room key.

"Thank you, Dean Stanwood, for the tour of the college. I'm looking forward to starting classes on Monday." After the dean had left, Severus looked around his room. It contained a bed which while not one of the canopied and curtained monstrosities like at Hogwarts, looked comfortable. There was also a small bathroom with a shower, a wardrobe, a desk and chair, and bookshelves over the desk. Severus took his trunk out of his pocket, resized it, and began unpacking it. He hung up his robes which were black and made of a lightweight material that had been spelled to resist stains and burns and had the college name and emblem, a golden cauldron, on the pocket. Next to them he hung his, plain black pants, white Oxford shirts, and hung his plain black ties on the tie rack. He arranged his shoes neatly in the bottom of the wardrobe and filled the drawers below with other necessities. He took his shaving kit into the bathroom then arranged his books on the shelves over his desk. The last thing he did was take two framed pictures out of his trunk. One picture was of his mum, Tobias, and himself as a one year-old seated on Tobias' lap. Both his mum and Tobias were smiling. Severus assumed this was taken before Tobias found out his wife was a witch and his son a wizard. The other picture was of him and Lily, with their arms wrapped around each other, taken just before they boarded the Hogwarts Express for their first year. They both thought they were going off to their greatest adventure. Lily had; he had just gone off to a seven year nightmare. He looked at it for a moment and then laid it back in his trunk and shut it. He arranged the other picture on his desk then opened the window. He took down one of his new potion textbooks, settled himself on his bed, which was quite comfortable, and began to read. He read for a couple of hours then decided to go to Diagon Alley and buy some floo powder and go back to his parents' house and put up the wards. He wouldn't put it past the three scumbags to return tonight and damage his house as much as possible. It was getting dark when he arrived, but he could still see lights in his Muggle neighbors' windows so he had to wait until it was fully dark and the other houses were dark. He occupied himself with getting a garbage bag from under the kitchen sink and tossing all the empty beer and liquor bottles Tobias had left behind into the bag. When he was finished he left it in the kitchen to take out to the dustbin tomorrow. He suspected there were probably more in his parents' bedroom. He opened the front door and stood out on the porch. The entire neighborhood was dark now. He took his wand out of the holster he wore on his left forearm and started putting up the wards. It took him almost two hours to securely ward the house. When he was finished, he picked up a large rock, tapped it with his wand and said clearly, "_Iungo_," and held the rock up to the wards. In a few seconds, he could see tendrils of light from the ward reach out and wrap around the rock. It lit up brightly for a few moments then went dark. Severus smiled. He had successfully linked the rock to the wards. Now it would act as an alarm to warn him if somebody was trying to breach the wards. He went back inside and took the floo back to the college.

**Page Break ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Page Break**

Lily and Petunia were helping their mum straighten up after Lily's graduation party. Iris sighed as she put the last of the dishes in the cupboard. "I do wish Sev could have come. I worry about him; he's much too thin and I'm guessing he skips a lot of meals."

"Mum, why would he want to come to a party with people who've have spent the last seven years tormenting him?" Petunia asked.

Lily reddened a bit at Petunia's comment. The Marauders had bullied him in their early years at Hogwarts, but James had stopped when they'd started dating. "Mum, you know Sev's always been able to look after himself and prefers it that way."

"Just because he can, Lily doesn't me he should and it certainly doesn't mean that we shouldn't care about him."

Richard was sipping a cup of tea and reading the _Manchester Evening News_. He put down the paper. "I'm sorry to have to say this, Lily, but if your boyfriend and his two friends got on my bus, I'd make them sit up front where I could keep an eye on them." Richard was a transit driver for the City of Manchester. "I didn't like the things they said about Sev or their arrogant attitudes. However, Remus did seem very nice. He also had very good manners. Obviously, his parents did a good job of raising him. I can't say the same for the other three."

Lily sighed. "There's been bad blood between Sev and James since the very first time they met. James, Sirius, and Peter sometimes went a little overboard pranking Sev and landed him in the hospital wing, but James promised me when I started dating him that he would leave Sev alone."

"I don't think it's pranking when it lands you in the Infirmary, Lily," Iris remarked.

"I suspect Potter worries about losing you to Severus and that's why he treats him the way he does," Petunia said.

"Why would James worry about Sev in that respect, Petunia?" Lily asked in confusion.

Petunia rolled her eyes. "Lily, for being the smartest witch in your class; you're certainly dumb about other important things."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Lily snapped, hands on her hips.

"Severus is in love with you and even a blind man would be able to see it!"

**A/N: _Iungo_: **to join, unite, connect.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **All the previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 2**

Severus woke up a five o'clock the next morning. He took a shower and flooed to the Leaky Cauldron. He ordered breakfast to go from Tom. He didn't want to eat at the Leaky and risk a run-in with Potter and his cronies. Tom came back with a paper bag and handed it to Severus. He thanked Tom, paid him and then flooed back to his house in Manchester. He went into the kitchen, took a cube out of the bag, tapped it with his wand and said, "_Expositus_." The cube unfolded and a breakfast of eggs, bacon, fried potatoes and bangers with a cup of hot coffee appeared. He wasn't going to bother eating, but then remembered he hadn't eaten since dinner Friday night and he was hungry. He ate a leisurely breakfast while reading the _**Daily Prophet**_. The entire paper was filled with news about attacks on Muggles and Muggleborns and their families by Death Eaters. Severus decided to ward his fireplace securely so that anybody intending harm couldn't come through. He warded it securely, using the Latin phrase, _alea iacta est_ (the die has been cast) as his password phrase. Now, between the wards outside and the warded fireplace, he was completely protected from Death Eaters and Marauders both. He wasn't going to kid himself. He knew Voldemort wanted him to join him because of his brilliance at potions, and had been very unhappy when he refused his offer.

He changed into old clothes and cleaned the bathroom first; it was totally disgusting and then he started to work in the kitchen. He gathered all the plates, cutlery, cups, saucers and glasses laying around the house, piled them in the sink, pointed his wand at the sink and said, "_Scourgify_." The dishes began washing themselves in hot, soapy water. Severus opened the cupboards and added whatever was left. While the dishes were washing themselves, Severus, remembering how cold the house would get in the winter, pointed his wand at the double window over the sink and said, "_Dilato Adstringo_." The window immediately expanded and tightened in its frame. "_Reparo_," Severus said again and the glass and screens repaired themselves. "_Scourgify_." The window became sparkling clean. He went around and did the rest of the windows in the house with the exception of a window in a room he figured his parents used for storage. He could do it later when he cleaned out the room.

He went back into the kitchen and cast a drying spell over the cleaned dishes. He left them sitting while he cleaned the cupboards, using the _Scourgify_ spell to carefully clean each cupboard before putting the dishes back in their assigned cupboard. He needed to ask Mrs. Evans about shelf paper and decided he would send an owl. He opened the back door, cast a spell around the room to get rid of the mice and roaches and then watched as they streamed out the door. He cast another spell around the kitchen that would prevent them from coming back in. He _scourgified_ the countertops, the sink, the cupboards below the sink and the cutlery drawer before putting the cutlery back. He spent the rest of the afternoon pulling down the hideous wallpaper in the kitchen, living room, and the dining room. He dragged several bags of trash out to the dustbins that were still fortunately out in the alley behind his house and still in good shape. He was sweaty and dirty and figured he'd better take a shower before going back to the college. As he was coming back into the house, he heard an odd ringing noise and looked around curiously, trying to figure out what it was when he realized it was the telephone. He picked up the receiver and said tentatively, "Hello?"

"Sev?" Lily's voice said.

He almost dropped the phone in surprise. Why in the hell would Lily be calling him now? They hadn't really spoken since fifth year and even as Head Boy and Girl had only spoken to each other when it was absolutely required of them and when they did, she had referred to him by his surname.

"Sev? Are you there?"

"Umm … yes."

"I tried to come over but I couldn't get in," She continued.

"Oh! Well, it's because of the wards I put up last night. Voldemort wanted me for his personal Potion Master and didn't take my refusal too kindly. What are you calling me?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you on winning the Flamel and Wenlock awards."

"Thank you and congratulations on your winning the Goshawk award, too."

"Thanks, Sev."

"Listen, Lily, I was just going to leave and go back to the college. I appreciate your calling. Please tell your mum and dad I said hi?"

"Of course," Lily replied. She sounded a bit hurt.

"Bye, then." Severus hung up the phone quickly then stuck it in a drawer of the desk it was sitting on. Actually he was astonished it still worked. Maybe his father paid the bill so he could keep in touch with his drinking buddies, or maybe his mum had cast a spell over the phone to make the phone company think the bill was being paid when it wasn't, or maybe they simply hadn't gotten around to disconnecting it yet.

He ran upstairs and took shower. While he showered he thought about Lily's call. He didn't know what the hell she was up to, but he wasn't going to be drawn into whatever it was. She'd made it clear two years ago that they could never be friends again and now all of a sudden she's all chatty and back to calling him Sev?

Severus dried off, dried his hair with a drying charm and then got dressed. He shut all the windows in case it rained during the week and made sure both doors were locked before flooing out. When he stepped out of the fireplace in the dormitory common room, he headed straight for his room. Once inside he flopped down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling until a knock on the door stirred him from his reverie. He got up and opened his door to find two men standing outside his door.

"Hello," the first one said. He was taller than Severus, about 6'5 and big with blond hair that was cropped closely to his head and blue eyes. He looked rather forbidding until he smiled. He clicked his heels together and gave a little bow and then extended his large hand. "I am Boris Chernov from Yalta, Russia. I live in a small wizarding community near there and I am a graduate of Durmstrang Institute."

Severus had to listen closely because Boris had a very thick accent. He shook Boris' hand and replied, "Hello, I'm Severus Snape from Manchester, England and I'm a graduate of Hogwarts." He looked at the smaller man standing beside Boris who was of oriental descent. He gave a small bow also and said, "I am Kaemon Fuchida from Osaka, Japan and I am a graduate of The Institute of Magic in Tokyo." Like Boris, he also had a strong accent

"I'm pleased to meet you both," Severus said nodding.

"Ve vere going to dinner and wondered if you would like to join us."

"Yes, thank you, I would," Severus replied just now realizing he'd forgotten to eat lunch and was starving.

He closed the door to his room and followed them. When they entered the cafeteria, there were three girls already seated at a table. After they got their food, Boris politely asked if they could join them.

"Merlin's blessed beard! Sure you can!" A red headed girl exclaimed. "I'm Colleen O'Gara from Dublin, Ireland and a graduate of Beauxbatons. "This is Michelle Benoit," she said pointing at a pale blond girl who vaguely reminded Severus of Narcissa Malfoy. "She graduated with me from Beauxbatons also and she lives in Marseille, France and this is …"

"April Hughes from London and who graduated from Hogwarts with me," Severus said, smiling at her. "We were in the same NEWT classes.

"Congratulations on winning those two awards, Severus," April said. "We all thought the Gryffindorks were going to win all the awards. I heard Professor Flitwick was quite peeved when he received the list of awards."

"I'm sure if Dumbledore could have found a way, they would have," Severus said. "But unfortunately for him nobody came close to my scores, even Evans final score in both Potions and Arithmancy was an E."

"Well, if she hadn't spent so much time with that goof-off Potter she might have gotten all Outstandings." April stated

"Well, thank Merlin; we're rid of him and Black! Once they start Auror Academy they'll barely have time to wipe their bums much less go around hexing people." Severus said emphatically.

**Page Break ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Page Break**

Lily still mulling over the telephone call she'd made to Severus a few hours ago. He seemed in a rush to get off the phone and hardly made an effort at conversation.

"Is something bothering you, Lily?" Iris asked. "You're not eating."

"No. I called Sev earlier because I really wanted to congratulate him on winning those two awards yesterday. It was absolutely brilliant of him."

"It appeared to me that a lot of the audience didn't agree with you," Petunia said. "I heard a lot of muttering and a few boo's when Dumbledore announced Severus had won them. Your soon-to-be mother-in-law's face was so wrinkled in disgust; she looked twice older than she normally does."

"When he answered the phone, it seemed like he didn't really want to talk to me. I told him I came over, but I couldn't get in and he said it was because of the wards he'd put up, but he didn't offer to walk me through them or key them so I could get through."

"What happened with you and Sev?" Iris asked. "We couldn't help but notice you haven't been together since Christmas fifth year."

"We had a fight. James and Sirius were pranking Sev and they had him hanging upside down in front of half the school and were threatening to de-pant him. I tried to help him, but he yelled at me and told me he didn't need any help from a filthy Mudblood like me. It's a nasty name for a Muggleborn and it means dirty blood. I told him I wouldn't try to help him again and called him Snivellus," Lily confessed.

"That doesn't sound like Sev," Richard said. "I imagine he felt completely humiliated and helpless, lost his temper and took it out on you as you were the nearest person."

"Did he apologize?" Iris asked.

"Yes, he came up to Gryffindor Tower later in the evening and considering his treatment by James and Sirius; it was really brave of him. I wouldn't come out at first, but Alice said he was threatening to sleep out in the hallway and she said I should give him a chance to explain. He did offer a heartfelt apology, but I wouldn't listen and told him I didn't want to hear it; he was too far gone into following You-Know-Who and that we were through as friends. James and Sirius always claimed Sev was a reject who couldn't make friends and who everybody disliked."

Petunia snorted. "Well, it would be difficult to make friends if he had those three creeps following him around constantly, doing nasty stuff to him. Anybody who might have wanted to be his friend would probably have been scared off; afraid they'd get the same treatment."

"What about this year?" Richard asked. "You must have had to talk to each other as Head Girl and Boy."

"We only spoke when it was something related to school. Otherwise, Sev spent most of his time studying in the library because James, Sirius, and Remus were always studying in our common room or he would patrol until they left, but he never came in until it was practically midnight and then once James and I got engaged I hardly saw him at all except in class and then he always sat in the back of the room."

"Well, I imagine after being bullied by your fiancé and his friends for seven years, I expect him to want to avoid going anywhere near them if he didn't need to," Petunia said.

"James stopped bullying Sev when we started going out."

"The problem is, Lily that bullies don't just suddenly stop their bullying. That kind of power is too addictive," Iris said. "They just turn into bigger bullies. Bosses who bully their employees, workers who bully their co-workers, and husbands who bully their wives, children and their neighbors."

"If James had been an ordinary kid, instead of a wizard, I'll bet he'd have been the kid on the playground who bullies the other kids into giving him their milk money, their lunch, their homework or anything else they had that he wanted," Richard said.

Lily was dismayed to hear what her parents said. She truly believed that James had changed for the better. Oh, he could still be whiny and opinionated sometimes, but he _had_ stopped hexing Sev and other people in the halls. She helped Iris and Petunia clear the table and wash up. She always offered her mum to clean the dishes by magic, but Iris always refused saying she found washing dishes to be relaxing. Lily went upstairs to her bedroom and stretched out on her bed. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Lily looked up and called, "Come in."

Petunia came in and sat down on Lily's bed. "I'm sorry that we weren't nice about James at dinner, but we just don't feel he's the right person for you."

"I know that Tuney and I know James does get loud and he's very opinionated …"

"And he brags about how rich he is, how important he is, and name drops how many important people his family knows," Petunia. "He's always talking about this Quidit or whatever and he acts like we're all stupid because we don't understand it. At least Sev always explained thing when he talked about them so we could understand what he was talking about."

Lily giggled. "Remember the time he tried to teach dad Wizard's Chess and dad got so flustered because the chess pieces kept yelling at him and telling him where to move them?"

"I don't think dad's ever going to forget that," Petunia laughed. "I think he was quite traumatized by it."

Lily rolled over on her stomach. "Actually I've been thinking I don't really want to go to the Auror Academy. I'd really want to be a Potion Mistress instead, but I don't know how to tell James."

"Well surely he wants you to be happy? Petunia asked. "But isn't it too late to apply to college now?"

"I actually applied to both programs last January and was accepted by both, but I never actually told either program I was accepting their offers so the one at the College of Potions is still open. I think I'll stop over there tomorrow and let them know I've decided to accept their offer."

"I would, Lily. I don't think mum and dad are really thrilled with you being this Auer since that You-Know-Who fellow is so dangerous."

**Page Break ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Page Break**

Severus was coming from his class and on his way back to the dorm and spotted Lily sitting in Dean Stanwood's office. The door was open and he could see her talking to the dean. He was curious as to what they were talking about, but he hardened his resolve not to be drawn back into Lily's life and continued on his way. He knew Boris and Kaemon were anxious to see Diagon Alley and he had agreed to take them on a tour of it after their last class today. He knew Boris wanted to see _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ and Kaemon was anxious to visit _Slug & Jiggers_.

"We're delighted that you've decided to accept our offer, Miss Evans," Dean Stanwood said shaking her hand.

"I'm looking forward to September first, Dean Stanwood," Lily replied. After she left his office, she decided to floo to Diagon Alley so she could get her textbooks and the robes she needed. She stepped out of the floo and into the Leaky Cauldron and went out into the back courtyard, tapped the bricks and when the wall slid open, stepped through into Diagon Alley. It wasn't terribly busy right now and wouldn't be until Hogwarts sent out their letters. Her first stop was at Madam Malkin's where she was measured for her robes. They promised to have them done by the time she was done shopping. She left Madam Malkin's and went next door into _Flourish & Blotts_ to purchase the textbooks she needed. She was coming out of the store carrying a heavy bag of books when she spotted Sev and two other guys walking down the street, headed to the book store. Since Petunia had told her Severus was in love with her, she had begun to view him differently. She watched as he motioned and pointed to the stores around him while his two companions appeared to be listening eagerly. She wondered also if what Petunia had said might be true. Maybe people who would have wanted to be his friends stayed clear of him because they didn't want to become victims of the Marauders. She smiled as she watched Sev. He was one of those people who were unable to talk without using his hands. She noticed his thick raven-black hair had blue highlights; he really had a nice smile and slender hands with long fingers. They had apparently just gotten out of class as they still wore their school robes.

They headed into Flourish & Blotts and Severus stopped short as he saw Lily standing in the doorway. "Umm …Hi Lily."

"Hi Sev, how are you?"

"Fine and you?"

"I'm fine, too."

Severus seemed very uneasy to Lily. "Ahh …these are two of my classmates, Boris Chernov from Yalta in the Soviet Union and Kaemon Fuchida from Osaka, Japan. Boris, Kaemon, this is Lily Evans, a former classmate of mine at Hogwarts."

Boris clicked his heels together, bowed and kissed Lily's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet a lady who is almost as pretty as my Tatiana."

"Boris' fiancée," Severus said by way of explanation.

Kaemon also gave a small bow and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Evans."

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you."

Severus pointed at her bag of books. "Got your books for Auror Academy?"

"No. I've decided I'd rather be a Potion Mistress than an Auror. I'll be starting at the college on September 1.

"Good. When you graduate, you can brew Potter's potions for him so he doesn't poison any of his fellow Aurors with his own ineptly brewed potions." Without giving her a chance to reply, Severus swept out of the store, his robe billowing out behind him.

"I guess I'll see you both in September then," Lily said.

"Ve vill look forward to it, Miss Evans," Boris replied.

Severus was waiting by _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ when Boris and Kaemon found him. They went inside so Boris could look around. After that they went to _Slug & Jiggers Apothecary_ so Kaemon could compare how potion ingredients differed from the ones they routinely used in Japan.

They decided to stop at the Leaky Cauldron before they flooed back to College of Potions as Boris and Kaemon wanted to try a Butterbeer.

"You and Miss Evans do not get along?" Kaemon asked. "She seems very nice."

"It's a long story," Severus said.

"Vell, ve have time, Sevrus," Boris said.

"Lily lives a few blocks from me in Manchester. We met when we were nine. I'm the one that told her she was a witch and I told her all about Hogwarts. We even swore a pact that would be friends forever. When we got to Hogwarts we were sorted into different houses and unfortunately ones that were sworn enemies; her house hated mine because it's the house Voldemort graduated from in 1945. Anybody who sorted into Slytherin is tagged by the Gryffindors as a future follower of Voldemort's."

"That does not seem fair as each person would make his own decision," Boris pointed out.

"I had these three Gryffindors, Potter, Black and Pettigrew, that used to bully me. They put me in the infirmary more than once. They _never_ attacked me one on one. It was always two or three on one."

"Did not your Headmaster do anything to stop it?" Kaemon asked.

"No. Dumbledore claimed they were only harmless pranks. They were from his former house and he favored his house at the expense of the other three houses. They used to bully April, too."

Boris was aghast. "They bullied a young lady! No gentleman vould do that!"

"If he did that in Japan, his family would lose face and could not be seen in public," Kaemon declared.

"Well, from the stories I've heard his father was a bully, too so that's probably where he learned it. Anyway, Lily and I drifted apart because she started to listen to her house member's claims about Slytherins and I fell in with some of my house mates who weren't too nice. Anyway, fifth year was the final breakdown of our relationship. Potter and his cronies caught me off guard when I was coming out of my final OWL exam and used one of my own spells against me. The upshot was Lily attempted to defend me, but I was extremely humiliated, lost my temper and called her a very nasty name. She got mad and called me by an awful nickname Potter and Black had given me. I was sorry the second that word came out of my mouth and I did apologize to her, but she wouldn't accept it and said we were through as friends. We never spoke the entire next year and she asked for a different partner in Potions. I was Head Boy last year and she was Head Girl, but we never spoke unless it was on a school matter and she always called me by my surname when we did, but now all of a sudden she's back to calling me by the nickname she's always called me since we were kids. She's engaged to Potter now and I don't know if she's helping him set me up for another big humiliation, but I don't trust her and if I see Potter, Black or Pettigrew anywhere near me, I'm going hex their sorry arses into next year!"

"Vell, I can't say I blame you," Boris said finishing off his Butterbeer.

A few nights later, Severus and April were studying in the library together. Master Librarian Harrington sat behind the check-out desk quietly working on something while the students came in and left again.

"He sure is different than Madam Pince," Severus remarked. "But I really had nothing against her. She used to let me stay in the library after hours last year while I was waiting for the gits to leave the Head suite so I could go to bed."

"I hear Evans has decided to attend Potions College rather than the Auror Academy," April said.

"So she told me a few days ago."

"I thought she wasn't speaking to you anymore?"

"She hasn't spoken to me since I called her the M-word fifth year and I apologized to her. I even risked getting hexed again by Potter and his cronies and went up to Gryffindor Tower to apologize, but she didn't care. She never spoke to me all sixth year and not last year except if we had school business and then she'd refer to me as Snape. Now all of a suddenly she's back to calling me 'Sev' and wanting to be all friendly."

"I suppose that means Pottybrain will be coming with her to the college socials."

"I expect so, but I'm not planning on attending any if he's going to be there. No doubt he'll drag the other three along, too since he can't seem to survive without them."

"Just what we need a Marauders reunion and here I was hoping I'd never see any of them again once I left Hogwarts. They're enough to make me want to go back and live as a Muggle." She laughed suddenly.

Severus looked up at her with raised eyebrows. "What's so funny?"

"Did you ever hear about the time last year when somebody cast a hex on them that made their toenails suddenly start growing so fast that they ripped through their trainers? They were sending stinging hexes across the hall at me when all of a sudden both Black and Potter start screaming like a couple of little girls."

Severus chuckled. "It was me that cast that hex. It was one I invented, but I had never used it before and when I saw them bothering you I thought it would be a good time to test it. I didn't hang around after casting it so I never got to see how it worked. I'd been teaching myself how to do a spell non-verbally since third year and I do all of them that way so nobody knew I cast it."

"Thank you; it worked great! McGonagall came charging out of her classroom when she heard the entire ruckus to see what was ailing her precious golden boys. Everybody was standing around laughing at them and she got mad and threatened us all with detention if we didn't leave. I left but I didn't go very far so I could still see and hear what was going on. She couldn't do anything to reverse it so she sent off her Patronus to Professor Flitwick. By this time Potter's and Black's toenails were about three feet long and were starting to curl up. Professor Flitwick came and when he saw what was happening he started laughing and laughed so hard he almost fell over. McGonagall got all pissy." April stood up, put her hands on her hips and said in a good imitation of McGonagall's voice, 'Filius, this is _not_ funny. Do something!' He said it was one of the funniest pranks he'd ever seen. Of course he couldn't do anything because he didn't know the counter-hex so they ended up levitating the two gits and taking them to the hospital wing. I heard they spent three days there before their toenails stopped growing."

Severus nodded. "If you don't apply the counter-hex it takes that long for the hex to reverse on its own. Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout were the only professors who ever tried to curb the Marauders. Everybody else acted like they thought the sun shown out of their arseholes," Severus said bitterly.

"I think Professor Flitwick really got a kick out of that hex and would have liked to have known who invented it."

"After the Marauders used one of my own spells against me fifth year I swore then I'd never tell anybody again about any other spells or hexes I'd invented or the counters, but since I'm no longer at Hogwarts and in no danger from the Marauders using it against me, I'll send him an owl with the information. Since I didn't get to see what happened and if I can ever get my hands on a Pensieve, maybe you could show me your memories?"

"I'd be happy to as you really should see it; it's hysterical! McGonagall was so incensed that anyone would dare attack her precious golden boys."

"I remember Dumbledork giving us a lecture at dinner that night about students hexing each other and he was looking at Slytherin the entire time – never even bothered looking even once at the Gyffindorks. He tried Legilimency on me too and he didn't know it, but I'm a skilled Occlumens. It amused me to let him in a little; let him think he had the better of me and then throw up my shield and toss the old fart out on his bony arse."

April nodded. "Yes, I remember him looking shocked, sort of stumbling, and grabbing hold of the podium and all the Gyffindorks standing up like they though their precious headmaster was going to drop over dead. Serves him right! He had no authority to use Ligilimency on you and certainly not without your permission!"

"It wouldn't have made any difference if he had dropped dead because another Gryffindork would have taken over. I never could understand why the Board allowed two people from the same house to be in positions of authority. Dumbledork obviously thinks he doesn't need anybody's authorization for anything."

"So how long have you been studying Occlumency and can you do Ligilimency, too?"

"I got interested in Occlumency when I found a book about it in my second year. I was really too young to understand any of the training at that point," Severus chuckled. "But as I got older the teachings, exercises and the meditations began to make sense. I was able to form a pretty strong shield by the time I was fourteen and by seventh year – nobody could touch me. I can perform Ligilimency, too, but I would never do without first obtaining the person's permission – it's unethical not to."

"Well, I think we both know Dumbledork skirts around the question of ethics with all his 'greater good' dragon dung."

Severus returned to his room just after eleven and found Lily's owl, Boadicea, sitting patiently on his desk. He sighed and took the note from her. Lily was probably mad because he'd made the crack about Potter in front of Boris and Kaemon. He supposed he should be grateful she hadn't sent him a Howler. He opened it and read:

_**Sev,**_

_**We need to talk. Please meet me at the Leaky Cauldron after your last class tomorrow.**_

_**Lily**_

Severus tossed down her note in disgust. Who the hell did she think she was summoning him like he was one of the unfortunate house elves at Potter Manor? He turned over the parchment and wrote:

_**I have to work after class tomorrow and I have papers to work on and studying to do after that.**_

_**Snape**_

He folded the note and sent Boadicea off with it. He slammed the window shut and flopped down on his bed. He didn't know what Lily's game was, but he refused to allow himself to be used by her and then tossed aside like a dirty rag again.

**A/N: _Expositus_** – to open, **_Dilato Adstringo_** - to tighten and expand. Some of you will notice some of the same characters that are in this story as in my other story, "Maybe I'm Amazed." This is solely due to the fact that I'm basically too lazy to come up with new characters. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **All the previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 3**

Boadicea had still not come back when Lily woke up at five the next morning. She wondered if Sev had kept her overnight and would send her back this morning. She stretched, yawned and got out of bed, drawing her robe over her pajamas and using her feet to locate her slippers. She made her way down to the kitchen where she knew her parents would already up as they because her dad had an early shift at work and they got up early even on the weekends.

Lily walked into the kitchen, shocking her parents into almost dropping their teacups. "Morning, Mum and Dad."

"Good morning, darling. We're a little surprised to see you up with the sun," Iris said.

"I sent Boadicea with a note to Sev asking if he could meet me at the Leaky Cauldron today after his classes so we could talk, but he hasn't replied so I thought he might have kept her overnight and will send her back this morning."

"Why do you want to talk to Sev, Lily?" Her father asked.

"I ran into him in Diagon Alley yesterday and I told him I had decided to attend the College of Potions rather than the Auror Academy and he made some crack about it being a good thing as I could brew James' potions for him so he wouldn't accidently poison one of his fellow Aurors with his own ineptly brewed potions."

"I take it James' isn't very good at potions?"

"It's not that he's bad, he just get impatient with the whole process, cutting, dicing, or chopping the ingredients in a certain way, adding them in a certain order, stirring so many times one way and so many times another way."

Iris set down a plate of eggs, bacon, sausages, and fried potatoes in front of Lily and sat down next to her husband, pouring them each another cup of tea. "Well, that is the whole point, isn't it? It sounds a lot like cooking as the ingredients have to be prepared in a certain way, added in a certain order, and stirred so many times or the recipe won't turn out tasting right. Of course I don't suppose your fiancé would know that as he as all those elves to cook for him."

Petunia wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the table, yawning widely.

"What on earth are both of you girls doing up so early?" Iris asked in amazement. She poured Petunia a cup of tea from the teapot and got up to get her breakfast from the pans warming on the stove.

"Vernon's taking me out golfing today. He's says I'm doing a lot better as I don't take half the course with my ball when I tee off now."

There was a sudden tapping on the window and Lily looked up to see Boadicea waiting outside. She opened the kitchen window and she flew in. Lily took the note and gave her a piece of bacon. She remained perched on the back of Lily's chair while Lily read her note from Severus. She huffed in frustration and sat back down.

"What's wrong, Lily?" Iris asked.

Wordlessly, Lily handed the note to her mum. Iris read Lily's note to Severus and then flipped the parchment over and read his reply. "Well, Lily, I imagine he is very busy. He told us he was going to school full-time, working part-time and taking another class at your Ministry twice weekly plus he's fixing up his parents' house on the weekends."

Petunia picked up the note and read it. "Why are you so shocked at Severus' answer? I mean you wouldn't accept his apology; you don't speak to him for two years unless you absolutely have to while you're dating his worst enemy. Did you really expect him to come crawling back to you just because you crooked your finger?"

_'Petunia makes me sound like an absolutely horrid person. Is that how Sev thinks of me too_?' Lily thought in dismay. "Well, I really didn't mean it to sound that way," she said. "I just want to try and patch up our friendship."

"Well, it doesn't sound as if Severus is interested in making up. His reply sounds very terse," Petunia remarked.

"I hope you're not expecting Sev to suddenly become friends with your fiancé and his friends because I don't think that's ever going to happen," Her father said.

"No." Lily shook her head, "Of course not." She sighed. "It's just that I really missed Sev when we …I ended our friendship. I actually wanted to go find him the next morning and tell him I was sorry and that I would accept his apology."

"Why didn't you, Lily" Iris asked.

Lily sighed. "My year mates were always on me about my friendship with Sev right from the first, but Sev changed the more he hung around with the people in his house that were planning to join You-Know-Who. James and Sirius always claimed that Sev would try to hex them whenever he saw them, and my roommate, Mary MacDonald said while one of Sev's friends was hexing her, he was standing watching them and laughing. When he called me a Mudblood, as far as I was concerned, that was the final straw."

"Well, perhaps if you give Sev a little space to figure out what his feeling are, he'll be willing to talk." Iris suggested.

Lily nodded. "You're probably right, Mum."

The next evening Richard was sitting in his favorite recliner reading the evening paper, relaxing after getting home from work. Iris had informed him that James was coming over for supper and he would probably be bringing his other friends too. '_Nothing like having a good meal, your digestion, and your evening ruined by having to entertain those juvenile delinquents_,' Richard thought in disgust. He heard three distinct cracks from the park across the street and then heard his daughter's voice raised in anger.

"I told you once, James I choose my own career and it's not up to you to approve or disapprove what I want to do with my life!" Lily said.

"But Lil, I was counting on us studying together and practicing what we learned in class," James whined. "I imagined us fighting against You-Know-Who together

"Remus can help you study and you can practice with Sirius. There's more ways than one to fight against You-Know-Who."

"Yeah, but I can't snog Moony while I'm studying."

"You better not, Mate," Sirius said with his trademark bark of laughter. "Moony might not take too kindly to that!"

"But why do you have to be a Potion Mistress for? If you don't want to be an Auror, why not work for the Ministry? You're really good at Charms and you could work for Arthur in the _Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office_. He'd be thrilled to have you or you could work on the _Committee On Experimental Charms_. My dad knew Gilbert Wimple and I could get you an appointment with him easy."

"James, my mind's already made up and I'm not changing it!"

"But Snivellus is going there too and that slimy creep still has a thing for you," James complained.

"For your information, James, he's taking advanced classes and I probably won't even see him. Now come on, Mum has dinner waiting and we're already late."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus came every weekend to work on his house. He had the downstairs done and was pleased with its appearance. He had vanished the old, worn carpets in both the living room and dining room, and then cleaned and polished the oak floors that lay underneath them. The living room was now painted a pale blue and the dining room had pale yellow walls. He had cleaned and polished the chandelier in the dining room and now it shone brightly. He'd transfigured sheers and drapes for the four windows in the living room and the two in the dining room He had stripped the layers of paint off the woodwork and restored the natural wood. Without magic, it would have taken him years to completely restore the house.

In the kitchen Severus had vanished the old, ugly, and worn linoleum and replaced it with a floor of black and white tiles and painted the walls a cream color. He had transfigured the cabinets to a cherry wood with glass fronts and transfigured the worn linoleum counter top into cherry wood also. He used a protective spells to seal it and prevent the sunlight from fading it. He transfigured the lower cabinets to match the cabinets above minus the glass fronts. He had transfigured a log into a cherry wood round pedestal table and four others into chairs. He had gotten four cotton balls and transfigured them into pale brown cushions for the chairs. The only eyesores in the kitchen now were the stove and refrigerator. He wanted to buy new appliances, but he frankly had absolutely no idea how to do it. He looked at his watch and saw it was only seven o'clock, but he knew Mrs. Evans would be up. He left his home, locking it after him and quickly walked the four blocks to the Evans' home. He briefly stopped to admire the flowers in the front yard. Iris was a dab hand at growing all kinds of flowers. He knocked on the front door and a few seconds later it was opened by Richard who smiled widely when he saw Severus. "Good morning, Sev. Come on in."

Severus stepped into the living room and Richard said, "Go out into the kitchen and get some breakfast."

"Actually, Sir, I just need to ask Mrs. Evans something."

"Well, you can give her the pleasure of seeing you eat breakfast while you're asking her. She's constantly fretting about you."

Severus walked out into the kitchen and was engulfed in a hug by Iris. "Sev, so good to see you again. Here, sit down and I'll get you some breakfast." She pointed her finger at him when she saw he was about to protest. "No arguments, Severus. You're much too thin!"

Severus shut his mouth. When Iris addressed him by his full name he knew she meant business. He sat down at the table and Richard sat back down opposite him. "How are things going, Sev?"

Iris sat a plate down in front of Severus filled with a large helping of scrambled eggs, bacon, bangers, and fried potatoes. She poured him a cup of tea and sat down next to Richard.

"Schools going great. I'm in a really small class; there are only six of us. Boris is from the Soviet Union and Kaemon is from Japan; they live across the hall from me. Michelle who's from France, Colleen's from Ireland and then April who graduated from Hogwarts with me. Works going good. We're not too busy right now, but it will be getting really busy in a couple weeks when the Hogwarts shopping starts. My warding classes are going great, too. Mum taught me some of it because my grandfather was a Wardsmith, but I've been learning a great deal more."

"How are the repairs on your house coming?"

"Well, that's why I came by actually. I need a new stove and refrigerator, but I absolutely have no idea how to buy them."

"Well, you definitely came to the right place, Sev. The appliance store here uses Iris to train their new salesmen," Richard teased. "If she can't get you a good deal than it can't be gotten."

"Would you like to go this morning?" Iris asked.

"Well, I don't want to disrupt your morning …" Severus began.

"Petunia and Lily are old enough to get their own breakfasts and if they don't want to cook, then there's cold cereal in the cupboard."

"How about in a half-hour? That will give me enough time to go to Gringotts and get some money out of my vault."

"All right I'll pick you up at your home in half-hour," Iris agreed.

Severus went home and flooed to the Leaky Cauldron and then went into Diagon Alley and to Gringotts. He took as many Galleons out of his vault that he thought he'd need and exchanged them for Muggle money. He was putting the money into a moleskin pouch when another Goblin stepped up to the desk. "Mr. Snape?"

Severus nodded and waited respectfully for the Goblin to continue. His mother had explained to him when he was younger about Gringotts and how for centuries the Goblins had taken care of the vaults and deserved great respect for doing it. He used to think about the stories his mum told him about the Goblins while Professor Binns droned on about the Goblin wars.

"I am Zort and I have had charge of your grandfather's accounts since I was younger. There is something I need to discuss with you."

Severus inclined his head. "As you wish." He followed Zort into an office and sat down. "As you probably already know, your grandfather disowned your mother and generally that would include any heirs, but in this case your grandfather allowed me to use my own judgment."

"How so?"

"Your grandfather had a younger brother who, knowing he was not the heir, left home as a young man to seek his own fortune. I was charged by your grandfather with finding either him or his heirs as they would be his inheritors. In the event I was unable to find anyone, he trusted me to use my own judgment in the matter of the Prince fortune."

"Have you found my great uncle or his heir's? If you have I should like to meet him."

"No, I am afraid not. Since your grandfather's death four years ago, I have searched in many places. We Goblins have many different resources for tracing heirs, but I found not the slight trace of your great uncle, leading me to conclude that he's dead and that he died without issue. In the matter of the Prince fortune, I would hate to see it go out of the family that's built it since the time of Merlin so I have made the decision that the only surviving heir to the Prince family should have it, but I will need to verify your bloodline first."

Severus nodded. "Of course." He held out his hand, knowing Zort would need his blood to verify he was of the Prince bloodline. Zort made a small cut and allowed it to drip on a special piece of parchment. The blood disappeared into the parchment and suddenly the Prince Family Tree appeared on the parchment. "Very well then."

"How large or small is the Prince fortune?" Severus asked as he knew nothing about the estate.

"There are currently twenty-five vaults and the main house, Prince Manor, located in the North York Moors, Yorkshire County plus two other smaller manor houses; one is in Scotland and the other in Wales. All three are warded, unplottable and not visible to the Muggles. Your vaults are located in the high security area. I can take you there now if you wish."

"No, not right now. It's going to take me awhile to absorb all this as it's quite a shock. I do need to visit my personal vault though."

"Of course, Mr. Snape. I'll take you this instant."

Severus followed him to the carts and got in. They rode down to Vault 699 and Severus handed him his key. Zort opened the vault and Severus filled a moleskin bag with Galleons. Zort returned Severus' key to him and they returned to the main floor of Gringotts where he exchanged the Gallons for Muggle money.

"Whatever you're ready you may contact me and I will personally take you down to your vaults," Zort said nodding.

"Thank you very much for your decision regarding me and for taking care of the Prince fortune all these years. Do you wish to continue to be in charge of it because that is my wish?"

"I would be honored," Zort replied.

"Good," Severus said and gave a slight bow. He returned his vault key to Zort. "Please have the contents of my personal vault added to the Prince vault."

"It will be done."

He left and walked quickly back to the Leaky Cauldron and flooed home, He glanced out the front window and saw the Evans' car parked out front. He ran outside and got in. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Evans," Severus apologized as he climbed into the car.

"It's no problem, Sev. I was reading so I didn't even notice the time." Iris always carried a book with her to read whenever she had to wait. She could be seen reading while waiting in the checkout line of the local grocer's.

"I got held up at Gringotts because the Goblin in charge of my grandfather's estate wanted to speak with me." He explained what had occurred. It still hadn't quite sunk in that he was now richer than the Potter's, Black's and Malfoy's put together.

Iris immediately pulled the car over and gave Severus a hug. "Sev, I'm so happy for you! I know Eileen, God rest her, would be so happy too." She pulled out into the street again.

"Could we keep this just between us …well, it's okay if you tell Mr. Evans."

"Of course, Sev, but I would love to see the look on James Potter's face when he does find out."

Severus smiled. "Okay, I'll have to admit that I'd like to see that also."

They arrived at the store and as they got out of the car, Iris said, "Now remember, Sev. Pick out what you want and then let me handle the rest."

Severus nodded and they went into the store. One of salesmen spotted them coming in and immediately hurried up to greet Iris. "George, this my neighbor, Severus Snape and he's interested in purchasing a new stove and refrigerator."

"Of course," George said. He gestured with his hand. "Please follow me this way, Mr. Snape."

Severus was silently thankful that there was no reaction from the salesman when he heard his last name. Apparently his parents had never bought anything from this store so their reputation for not paying their bills wouldn't affect him."

The salesman showed him an array of stoves and refrigerators, but all Severus wanted was a basic stove and refrigerator. Iris did advise him to get a stove that was self-cleaning and a refrigerator that was self-defrosting as those two features were real time savers. He selected the stove and refrigerator he wanted and then stepped back and allowed Iris to take over. He smiled as he noticed the look of resignation on the salesman face. While Iris haggled with the salesmen, Severus looked at the television sets. Maybe he should buy a telly. While he didn't much care for British television, he did like some of the television shows imported from America.

Iris came over to where Severus and told him the price she had gotten for him. Severus nodded, took a roll of bills out of his jacket pocket and gave them to Iris who counted them for him and then scolded him. "Severus Snape, do you realize your are carrying around £2000! You could have been mugged and robbed!"

Severus smiled at her outrage. She'd obviously forgotten he was a wizard and nobody was going to rob him unless they wanted to find themselves the victim of a leg-locker curse followed by being lowered into a dumpster.

Iris came back over after paying for the appliances and gave him his change. He put it back into his jacket pocket. "Okay, I've arranged with them to deliver the stove and refrigerator to you house at four o'clock this afternoon and they're going to take away the old ones."

"They might be able to get a good price if they sell them to a museum," Severus joked.

Iris dropped Severus off at his house and then drove home. As she came in the door, she heard Petunia and Lily arguing. She sighed and looked at Richard. "What are they arguing about now?"

"It started with Potter and at that point I removed myself to the living room."

"Girls, what are you fighting about?" Iris said coming out into the kitchen. She stood with her hands on her hips.

"Mum, Lily won't help me with the dishes, Vernon is coming by at ten-thirty to pick me up and I want enough time to get ready."

"Mum, I told Tuney I could get the dishes done easily with magic," Lily complained.

"And I told Lily she doesn't need to whip out her wand for every little thing. She should learn to do _some things_ our way."

Iris shook her head. "Petunia, I think Lily was just trying to help you so you would have more time to get ready for you golf date with Vernon. Lily, Petunia's right; you should learn to do some things without using your wand constantly."

Satisfied with Iris' answer, both Lily and Petunia apologized for their behavior. Iris put the tea kettle on the stove to boil and got the tea canister out of the cupboard.

"Where did you go this morning so early, Mum?" Petunia asked, drying her hands on a dishtowel.

"Sev came over early this morning and asked me if I would help him buy a new stove and refrigerator. He bought new ones and the store's going to deliver them at four o'clock and I'm going over to make sure the store does everything they promised. That reminds me; you girls will need to keep an eye on dinner while I'm over there. Lily what time is your fiancé coming over and is he bringing all three of his friends with him or just Mr. Black?"

"I don't know, Mum. I'll owl James and find out."

"If he even bothers to answer, that is," Petunia said.

"Well, I've gotten quite a big roast from the butcher in case he does decide to bring his friends and I'm assuming he will as he doesn't seem to want to leave home without them," Iris said.

"I think Lily's going to find that they're going to be permanent guests even after her and Potter are married, Mum. Potter will probably want to take Black along on your honeymoon, Lily," Petunia said with a smirk as she left to go upstairs to get ready for her golf date with Vernon.

"How is Sev, Mum? What did he say?"

"He's fine, Lily. He said school was going really well and so were his classes at the Ministry. He said work wasn't real busy right now, but it would be in a couple of weeks."

Lily smiled reminiscently. "Yes, the students will be receiving their Hogwarts' letters this week so Slug & Jiggers will be really busy for the next few weeks."

"I really think Sev is taking on too much and I don't think he's eating enough or getting enough sleep," Iris said worriedly.

"I'm sure Sev is all right, Mum," Lily replied. "I'll go owl James and remind what time dinner is and find out who else is coming."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

James lay sprawled on the sofa in the library of Potter Mansion. He was restless, bored, and wanted to find some excitement. Sirius walked in just then. "What time are we going over to Lily's? Her mum cooks even better than your house elves."

"She just owled me to remind me that dinner is at six," James pouted. "I don't know what's gotten into her lately. First she decides she's going to be a Potion Mistress instead of an Auror without even talking it over with me and now she's defending Snivellus at every turn after he called her that filthy name."

"Snivvy gotten way above his station since Dumbledore got forced into making that slime Head Boy. He probably _Imperiused_ Dumbledore to get those two awards he won because those should have gone to a Gryffindor too.

"Yeah, it's a good thing we spent so much time in the Head's suite or Snivellus probably would have raped Lily. I asked her if I could sleep on the couch, but she said it wouldn't look proper."

"Shit! Like it looked proper for a Gryffindor to share quarters with a snake," Sirius snorted. "I think we should pay a visit to Snivvy's home after hours, if you get my drift."

James smiled and sat up. "Yeah! That sounds like just the ticket for my boredom, Padfoot! I'll have Meron wake us at 1:00 and we can apparate over and give Snivvy's house a new look."

"Too bad it's such a dump already."

"Lily said he was fixing it up though so we'll give him a nice surprise."

"Even better!" Sirius declared.

They apparated to the abandoned park across the street from the Evans house and walked over to the house. James stopped Sirius as he saw the red Muggle vehicle parked out in front of the house. "Looks like the sister's fiancé is here for dinner too so be polite."

"You mean that fat chunk of squid blubber?" Sirius asked with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, Vernon."

Lily couldn't believe James and Sirius during dinner. They didn't talk about Quidditch; they even listened politely when Vernon talked about his family's drill company.

They both left early saying they had to be up early tomorrow because they had agreed to help Remus get his classroom organized.

"Well, that was quite a switch," Petunia remarked as they cleared the table. "No insults from Black and no talking about Quddodge from Potter."

Lily was suspicious. She suspected James and Sirius were up to something. That business about helping Remus to organize his classroom. More than likely James and Sirius would make it more disorganized if anything.

James personal house elf, Meron, woke him at 1:00. He and Sirius dressed in dark clothes and apparated to the park across the street from the Evans house. They walked quickly down the street to Severus' house. They stopped in front of his house. "Lily said he was fixing this up?" Sirius whispered. "It still looks like a dump to me."

"Yeah, we'll probably just have to pull out one board and the whole thing will fall down!" James replied.

They started forward and ran into the wards Severus had put up. There was a bright flash of light and both Sirius and James were tossed out into the middle of the street. They rolled aside quickly and just missed being run over by an irate driver who stopped his car and yelled out the window, "Why don't you fucking drunks find somewhere else to sleep it off rather the middle of the road!" He shook his fist at them, started his car and drove away.

"Come on let's get the hell out of here, Prongs!" Sirius said pulling James to his feet.

They turned on their heels and disapparated back to Potter Manor

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus woke to find his alarm was flashing brightly. Somebody was attempting to breech the wards around his house. He threw back the covers and got out of bed, got dressed quickly and took the floo to his house. He didn't turn on any lights when he got there, not wanting to alert whomever was trying to get inside that he was there. He went to the front window and lifted one of the slats of the blind and peered out. He couldn't see anyone outside, but it was a really dark night. He pulled his wand out of his arm holster and quietly went out the back door. He was thankful he had oiled the hinges on both doors so neither of them squeaked. He did a though search of the back, front and sides of his house, but found nobody. He looked down the street where the Evans house was, but everything was quiet. He looked up at the sky, but saw nothing; no Dark Mark hovering over any houses. Still, he should go down and make sure everything was all right there.

Severus made sure his house was securely locked and then walked down the four blocks to Lily's house. He knocked on the front door, waited while the porch light came on and he saw Mr. Evans glance out the front window. The front door opened and Richard said, "Sev is everything all right?" He opened the door. "Come in."

Severus stepped inside. "Somebody tried to breach the wards around my house and I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He glanced upstairs and saw Mrs. Evans, Petunia and Lily. He looked away quickly, but not before he noticed she had her wand out. At least hanging around with old Pothead had dulled her sense of danger, but he had heard that she joined Dumbledore's little Gryffindor defense club, The Order of the Phoenix or some such stupidity. He pulled his attention back to Richard who was asking, "Do you think it might have been those Death Eater fellows?"

"I don't know. I hope not, but you can't be sure about anything these days." He turned to go. "As long as everything's okay I'll leave because I know you drive a early bus and need to get back to bed."

"Well, I appreciate you coming over and checking on us, Sev." Richard said opening the door for him.

Lily ran down the stairs at that point. "Oh no you don't, Sev!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him into the living room. "We're going to talk and you're not leaving until we do!"

Richard shook his head and went back upstairs.

"There's nothing to talk about. Your year mates were humiliating me in front of half the school; I lost my temper and called you a nasty name when you tried to help me. I apologized; you wouldn't accept it and told me to get lost; we weren't friends anymore."

"That's because you changed so much, Sev. You were hanging around with those Death Eater wannabees …"

"Don't start that crap again! Do you see Avery, Wilkes, Mulciber, or any of the rest of them helping me now? Did you see any of them at mum's funeral? I had to eat, sleep, and go to class everyday with those fuckheads so it's a little hard to not to associate with them! Maybe, I didn't fancy waking up with my throat cut!"

"Mary told me when Mulciber hexed her you were standing there laughing with the rest of them."

"Merlin's arsehole! I told you I wasn't even there. I was in the library and I didn't know anything about it until Potter and Black decided to make me pay for it, but of course it'd never occur to you that MacDonald would lie!" Severus was practically yelling at this point. Why the hell was she wasting his time going over the same old ground? This was a complete waste of time. He needed to get back to his dorm and go to bed. "You know, Lily you don't have a lot of room to talk. I saw you almost smile at Potter's antics while I was hanging upside down before you suddenly remembered you were supposed to be my friend and started yelling at him. After I called you a Mudblood, you called me Snivellus. I apologized for my mistake, but you never did. Don't you think calling me that name hurt me as much as me calling you a Mudblood hurt you?"

Lily's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "I was just angry."

"And so was I, but somehow my being angry doesn't excuse my behavior. You know what I think, Lily? I think you were looking for any excuse you could find to end our friendship because your housemates didn't approve and you wanted to be popular and you certainly couldn't be that with a slimy, unpopular, snake tagging after you."

"That's not true, Severus Snape!" Lily grabbed him by the front of his shirt. She looked really angry. Her face was flushed, her eyes looked as if they could shoot lightning bolts, her hair fell in a messy wave down her back and he could see the fast rise and fall of her breasts underneath her robe. In other words, she looked so damn gorgeous he couldn't resist and pulled her into his arms and kissed her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** All the previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 4**

Lily's arms slid around Severus's waist tightly as she responded to his kiss. The moment he felt that, Severus pulled away. Without a word he opened the door and left hurriedly. He practically ran to four blocks back to his house, unlocked the door and went inside, relocking the door after him. He flooed back to the college and returned to his dorm. He was just going into his room when the door across the hall opened and Kaemon peered out. "Sevus, what are you doing up this late?"

"I apologize if I woke you, Kaemon. My alarm notified me that somebody was attempting to breech the wards around my house so I had to floo over and check."

"Do you think it was this Voldemot person?"

Severus shrugged. "I don't know. They were gone by the time I got there." He opened his door. "I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for checking on me."

Kaemon smiled, waved and returned to his room closing his door again.

Severus entered his room and flopped down on his bed. He groaned loudly. Merlin! He'd done exactly what he didn't want to do! The last thing he wanted was to allow Lily to think she had any sort of power over him. He decided from now on he'd just stay clear of her completely.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

The Inner Committee of The Order of the Phoenix met early the next morning in Dumbledore's office. The committee members consisted of Dumbledore, Elphias Doge, Alastor Moody, Arthur Weasley, Edgar Bones, and James Potter.

Dumbledore was pacing around his office. "We do not have good information about Voldemort's movements and plans and that's beginning to hurt us. I'm suspect he has a spy amongst our ranks and we need a spy in his ranks, but unfortunately we have nobody skilled enough to act as a spy.

"There's no spy here, Albus! No Gryffindor would spy for You-Know-Who!" James argued. He shifted uncomfortably, still hurting after being tossed out into the middle of the street by Snivellus' wards, almost being run over by a Muggle driver and finally being the victim of a stream of insults and profanities by the same Muggle driver. "What would they need to be skilled in to act as a spy?"

"Well, they would need to be a skilled Occlumens and Ligilimens …hmm I believe Mr. Snape possesses those skills."

"You can't trust any of those snakes, Albus and that's why you didn't invite any of them to join the Order," James pointed out. "What's this Occlumency business?"

"To put it simply, you're able to shield your mind and allow somebody to see what memories you want them to see. Everything else is kept behind a shield. I was quite surprised to find myself unceremoniously tossed out of Mr. Snape's mind this past spring."

"How is Snivellus able to perform these kinds of magic?" James asked the envy obvious in his voice. "They aren't taught here. Sirius must be right about him knowing all this dark magic."

"It's not dark magic, but it is very old magic. I believe he's self-taught from books in the library. I must say he's more talented than I gave him credit for as Occlumency is very difficult to learn. He must be a natural Occlumens and that's very rare."

"Are you going to approach Mr. Snape about becoming a spy for the Order, Albus?" Elphias asked.

"Indeed I will, Elphias."

"Well. Snivellus is a waste of space anyway and nobody will miss him if mucks it up and You-Know-Who kills him."

Arthur was aghast at how Albus and James were talking about Severus. True, he'd never met him, but he knew who he was as they were both taking the warding class at the Ministry. He seemed a quiet and very intelligent young man and he didn't understand James' animosity toward him.

"I believe I will speak to Mr. Snape about this idea as soon as possible, James."

"Snivvy's so poor all you'll have to do is show him a Galleon and he'll grovel to do anything you want him to do." James snorted

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

After his last class that day, Severus went over to the Ministry of Magic to Level Two where Auror Headquarters was located. He stopped near the door. The Auror's whose cubicle was nearest the door had a nameplate on the desk that read Ned Crockford. He was leaning back in his chair with his feet up on his desk, shuffling through a stack of parchment in his lap and reading.

"Excuse me," Severus said. "I'm looking for Kingsley Shacklebolt. Is he in the office today?"

Crockford looked up at Severus and said. "He is." He stood up and yelled, "Hey King! Somebody's here to see you!"

"Merlin, Crockford! I'm not deaf!" Kingsley's deep voice came from somewhere in one of the cubicles in the back of the room. He stood up and made his way to the front. He was a tall, bald black wizard wearing a single gold hooped earring. Kingsley's intellect, power, and calm confidence was frequently reassuring to the others around him. He smiled as he saw Severus hovering in the doorway.

"Severus, it's nice to see you again," Kingsley said giving his hand a shake. He was one of the few people that had never had any prior judgments about Severus. He had been trying to recruit him for the Auror program since late last year. "I don't suppose you've changed your mind about becoming a Potion Master?" He asked as they walked back to his cubicle.

"No. I started at the College of Potions two days after graduation," Severus said with a laugh.

Kingsley sighed. "We lost the three top students we were hoping to recruit, you, Mr. Lupin and Miss Evans. I just heard we lost Miss Evans to the College of Potions, too, but we did get Miss Warwick however. Her fiancé, Mr. Longbottom is in his second year of training."

Severus wanted to laugh at the fact that Kingsley didn't consider Potter and Black among the top recruits from their class. He sat down in the chair Kingsley offered him. "The reason I'm here is because my house is warded and early this morning my alarm went off around one indicating that somebody was attempting to breech them. I flooed over to my house and had a look around, but whoever it was had already gone. Is there any way to tell whether they were Death Eaters? I'm not naïve and I know Voldemort wants to add me to his collection and was not at all pleased when I declined his offer."

"I can stop over and have a look around. I may still be able to detect a magical signature and I may be able to even tell who the signature belongs to as we have many of the Death Eater's magical signatures on file here. Any criminal is required by law to have his signature registered here as are all Aurors."

"Really? Why are Aurors required to register their magical signatures?"

"Well, it's mostly in case where a civilian might be injured or killed in a fight with Death Eaters. It's to determine if they were killed by the Death Eater or an Auror."

"That makes sense." Severus replied. That meant both Potter's and Black's magical signatures would be on file once they started at the Academy.

"We can floo over to your place when I'm done here." Kingsley offered.

"Okay. I work at Slug & Jiggers so I'll meet you in the Atrium at 5:30. You'll need to dress like a Muggle since I live in a Muggle neighborhood."

They met in the Ministry Atrium at 5:30 and Kingsley quickly transfigured his robes into a suit. They flooed to Severus' home and went outside. Kingsley's walked around Severus doing motions with his wand while being careful that none of Severus' neighbors were able to see what he was doing. When he was done, he said, "I was able to detect two faint magical signatures, but as far as I can tell they aren't Death Eaters."

"So it was somebody intending mischief," Severus said.

"Well, people with good intentions don't usually come visiting at one a.m."

They flooed back to Diagon Alley and had dinner at the Leaky Cauldron before Severus returned to his dorm. He sent off an owl to Richard with Kingsley's findings so he and Iris wouldn't continue to worry about Death Eaters.

The next two weeks at Slug & Jiggers were so busy that Severus barely had time to turn around. First year Potion kits disappeared off the shelves as if by magic and Severus assembled more of them before he left work each night. The older students came in to replenish their ingredients and he had to make sure they had plenty of each kind of ingredients. He didn't have time to go back to his house as he was working full days on the weekends.

On the morning of September 1, Severus awoke with his stomach in a knot before he remembered he didn't have to go back to Hogwarts and his life was Marauder-free. He did remember that Lily was starting classes today also, but figured as his classes were all advanced ones, he would not have to worry about running into her. If he saw her in the halls he could dodge her easily enough.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Lily woke on the morning of the 1st nervous. She wondered if her classes would be hard and if she'd be able to keep up with them. Her professors at Hogwarts had always praised her abilities so she shouldn't have anything to worry about. She knew the College of Potions had high standards and accepted very few students into their program. She knew Sev and April Hughes had been accepted, but she could think of nobody else from their class that had been.

James and Sirius had started at the Auror Academy a week ago as did her best friend Alice Warwick. She probably wouldn't see much of James as the Auror program was very tough and he would have to buckle down if he wanted to get decent grades.

She hoped she'd see Sev today, but suspected she wouldn't as he probably had totally different classes than she had. She got dressed and grabbed her book bag, checking to make sure everything she needed was in it. It seemed strange to her not to be getting on the Hogwarts Express and it would seem strange not to be sleeping in Gryffindor Tower tonight. She shrank her book bag and put it in her pocket and then went downstairs.

"Ready for your first day of college, Lily?" Iris asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Truthfully, Mum I'm a little nervous," Lily confessed. "I know I did well at Hogwarts, but this is a completely unfamiliar environment."

"I'm sure you'll do fine and I'm sure Severus will be willing to help you."

Lily finished her breakfast and went upstairs to touch up her hair and make-up. She wore her hair plaited. James wanted her to cut it and wear it in a more modern style, but she refused. She went back downstairs and said goodbye to her mum and Petunia. Petunia was dressed stylishly. She worked in a boutique and bought most of her clothes with the discount she got. She left the house and apparated to the courtyard of the college, went inside, found her classroom and sat down.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus, Boris, and Kaemon were walking from their last class of the day when Severus spotted a familiar figure standing in the Atrium. As usual he was dressed in one of his garishly colored robes with a matching hat.

"Who is that?" Boris asked, nodding in Dumbledore's direction.

"Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts," Severus answered. He assumed Dumbledore was looking for Lily. There was probably a meeting of the Gryffindor Defense Club tonight.

Dumbledore by this time had spotted Severus and was making his way over to him. "Severus, I'm glad I found you."

"If you're looking for Miss Evans I haven't seen her all day. I suggest you try her at home." He nodded to his friends, "This Boris Chernov of Yalta in the Soviet Union and Kaemon Fuchida of Osaka, Japan." He nodded at Dumbledore. "This is Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"I'm pleased to meet two such fine young men," Dumbledore replied. "If you don't mind, I'd like to borrow Severus for a bit."

"I'll see you both later," Severus said as they headed towards the library.

"Perhaps you'd care to join me in a cup of tea? I heard from Arthur that there's a new tea shop in Diagon Alley that serves marvelous tea and has delicious scones and crumpets."

"I have to be to work in an hour so whatever you have to say, please be quick about it," Severus replied as they sat down in the tea shop. He did a nonverbal _Muffliato_ to prevent anyone from overhearing their conversation as Dumbledore ordered a pot of tea and a plate of scones and crumpets.

"What is it you just did?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"I cast a silencing spell; it's one that I invented. Now what could you possibly want to see me about?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "You're always go straight the point, Severus."

Severus crossed his arms and glared at Dumbledore. He wasn't a student anymore (thank Merlin!) and this wasn't the Headmaster's office. He'd give the old fart ten minutes to spit out whatever manipulation he had planned for him or he was out of here.

A teapot and the plate of scones and crumpets floated over to their table and landed gently in front of Dumbledore. He poured the tea and gave Severus a cup then nodded and said, "Help yourself, my boy."

Severus shook his head and took a sip of his tea.

"Are you still in contact with any of your year mates – particularly the ones who joined Voldemort?"

"No. I haven't spoken to any of those arseholes since fifth year."

"Would you be able to get back in contact with them?"

"Why would I want to?"

"As you probably already know I've formed a group to fight Voldemort. I suspect Voldemort has a spy in our ranks and it's beginning to hurt us. We've lost some good people. What I need is my own spy in Voldemort's ranks to keep me apprised of his plans and movements. You would be ideal for this position, Mr. Snape as a former Slytherin and a very skilled Occlumens."

"And how exactly would this benefit me?" Severus asked with a sneer. '_Would all your Gryffindor members suddenly fall to the floor and kiss my feet?'_ He thought sardonically.

"You would be helping to defeat the darkest wizard of all times."

"What happens if my cover is blown? Even the best spy can only stay under for so long."

"It will be your duty to make sure your 'cover' as you put it isn't revealed. No, we do not have any plans to rescue you if that does occur. I can't risk losing good people on what would essentially be a suicide mission. That's what makes you the ideal person for this job. You have no family or friends, none who would question your absences or a sudden permanent disappearance."

"I think Mr. and Mrs. Evans would miss me. They've always treated me like their own son," Severus said quietly.

"Well, soon their going to have the perfect son-in-law so I doubt they'll even miss you at all and if they do I'll simply tell them you couldn't deal with Lily marrying James and decided to seek your fortune elsewhere."

"I know enough about Voldemort to know that he requires you to kill in order to prove your loyalty to him and join his ranks. What happens if I'm arrested as a Death Eater and thrown into Azkaban? Will you testify at my trial and tell the Wizengamot I was spying for you?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Of course not, my boy; that would mean tipping my hand to Voldemort. If you should go to Azkaban or even be condemned to be kissed, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing everything you did saved many worthy wizards and witches and it was for the greater good. I am willing to pay you ten Galleons a month for your services. Severus, you owe me. I went to bat for you many times. Do you think anybody really wanted a Slytherin Head Boy? It was my decision alone that gave you that position."

Severus got up, threw a Galleon down on the table. "I find I must refuse your _kind_ offer, Headmaster and leave before I embarrass myself completely by vomiting on the table." He opened the door and looked at Dumbledore. "I owe you _nothing_. You never once stopped the Marauders from bullying me and I _earned_ the Head Boy position _on my own_." He let the door slam loudly behind him as he left. He stormed up the street to the Leaky Cauldron and flooed back to his dorm. How dare Dumbledore assume he was just somebody to be used and then thrown away like garbage when he was no longer useful! He changed out of his school robes and into a T-shirt, jeans and trainers and flooed directly to Slug & Jiggers. He generally worked in the back unloading the barrels of potion ingredients, sorting them into jars, and making sure the shelves were restocked at the end of the day. Occasionally, one of the owners, who were both Potion Masters, allowed him to help them with their brewing. By the time he got off work and returned to his dorm room, his feelings had turned from a blazing anger to a deep depression. He lay down on his bed without bothering to turn on the lights. He wasn't hungry and he didn't feel like starting on any of his assignments. He decided to make some tea. He turned on the light, filled the teapot with water, tapped it with his wand and it immediately got hot. He waited a few seconds then repeated the steps, put the tea in and waited for a few minutes while it steeped. He poured the tea into a cup and sat down at his desk, sipping it and thinking. The thought of Dumbledore wanting him to sacrifice himself for 'the worthy witches and wizards' which translated to mean his precious Gryffindors utterly depressed him. Did that mean Dumbledore didn't consider _any_ Slytherins, Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws worth saving? Suddenly feeling extremely nauseated, Severus rushed into his bathroom and threw up. Fortunately there was very little in his stomach. His slumped back against the shower stall and buried his face in his hands. Was he really such an awful person that nobody wanted to be friends with him? He knew Potter and Black were very popular and were never shy about broadcasting their dislike of him. He supposed it wasn't unreasonable to assume that many people followed their lead and hated him because they hated him. He got up weakly, noxed the lights and crawled into bed.

Saturday morning dawned grey and rainy. Severus opened one eye, saw what it was doing outside and decided not to go out. He'd had anything, but a peaceful night and probably looked like hell. He needed to send off a note to his employers that he was ill and wouldn't be in to work at all this weekend before he forgot. He threw on some clothes, wrote a quick note and spelled it so it would fly through the Floo to Slug & Jiggers. He returned to his room, his bed and hopefully to a peaceful sleep where he wasn't plagued with nightmares about the Marauders bullying him and doing worse things than humiliating him in front of half the school. He hadn't had a nightmare like that since sixth year even though the Marauders had continued to hex him even as Head Boy.

The next time he woke; it was two in the afternoon. He looked at the half-finished homework on his desk and got up with a sigh. He got dressed and started on his assignments. The majority of it was reading, but he did have one or two essays he needed to complete, but it would at least keep his mind off the cruel things Dumbledork had said.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Dumbledore had summoned another meeting of the Inner Council on Sunday morning. Arthur stood talking to Edgar and James lounged in one of the squishy armchairs in front of Dumbledore's desk with a cup of tea and a blueberry muffin. Elphias was visiting with Dumbledore.

Arthur cleared his throat. "Albus, if you don't mind could we please get started. I really want to get back home. Molly and I were up all night with Fred and George and we're both tired."

"So, did Snivellus accept your offer? I still don't think we can trust that slimy snake." James said.

"No. He didn't, James and he seemed quite offended by the whole thing."

"What did you say to him?" Arthur asked.

"I merely pointed out to him that he would be perfect for the job because he had no family and no friends to question sudden absences or even a permanent one. He wanted assurance if, as he put it, his cover was blown, we would launch a rescue mission." Dumbledore shrugged. "I told him I couldn't risk good people on what was essentially a suicide mission. Next he wanted to know if he were arrested would I reveal that he was a spy for me so he could escape imprisonment."

"What did you say to him?" Edgar asked.

"I told him I couldn't tip my hand to Tom and if he were imprisoned for life or even condemned to be kissed he would have the satisfaction of knowing he'd helped defeat Tom, saved many worthy witches and wizards and it was for the greater good."

"Here! Here!" James raised his cup. "That'll teach Snivellus where _his_ proper place is." He took a bite of his muffin. "It's not surprising he'd refuse your offer, Albus. He always was a coward and whenever he attacked Sirius, me, or Peter, it was always from behind."

Arthur continued to be appalled by what Albus and James were saying. What gave them the right to judge and condemn this young man? He resolved to find out for himself.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus was studying in the library Tuesday between his classes. He had missed classes on Monday because he just didn't feel like leaving his room, but Boris and Kaemon had been kind enough to turn in his assignments for him. He'd found a study carrel on the second level of the library. He was sure nobody was aware of this nook except possibly the master librarian, but he hadn't counted on the persistence of Lily. He smelled the scent of the herbal shampoo she always used even before he looked up and saw her. Shit! He summoned his resentment. She was one of the worthy Gryffindors he was supposed to sacrifice his life to save.

"Sev, Boris said you were sick all weekend and on Monday." She summoned a chair and sat down beside his carrel. "How are you now?"

"I'm fine now," Severus replied. "By the way I apologize for my inappropriate behavior the last time we spoke. It won't happen again."

"Sev, I felt something when we kissed and so did you."

"Yeah, I felt the joy of getting one over on Potter," Severus said cruelly with a smirk.

"That's a lie and you know it!"

"Suit yourself, Evans. In the meantime I've got a lot of reading to do so please go find your fiancé and snog him." He replied dismissively.

With tears in her eyes, Lily got up and hurried away. He was relieved as he didn't want to be around any Gryffindors now or at any time in the near future. They were all the same thinking that they should have whatever they wanted and be able to just toss it aside when they were done with it. Well, they weren't getting him! He had to finish up as he had to work this afternoon and at five he was meeting Kingsley at the Leaky Cauldron for dinner and then going to the Ministry for his warding class.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

James and Sirius were hanging out in the Leaky Cauldron between classes. Peter had the day off from his father's farm which grew magical plants for potions and sold to Slug & Jiggers among other apothecaries. James had told Sirius about Dumbledore's attempt to get Snivellus to spy for them and his refusal even though what went on in the Inner Council was supposed to be confidential. He grinned at Sirius. "I got an idea. Want to get Snivellus into some trouble, Padfoot?"

Sirius grinned back. "Just tell me how, Prongs. He's in need of some payback for those wards he put up."

"Just follow my lead." James said. One of the first things they learned in class at the Auror Academy was never to talk about their assignments in the Leaky Cauldron as it was somewhere Voldemort definitely had his spies. James turned around with his back leaning against the bar, a look of indignation on his face, and said loudly, "Can you believe it, Padfoot? Snape had the effrontery to offer his services as a spy against Voldemort to Dumbledore for ten Galleons a month! He said he could contact some of his old friends, join Voldemort, and he'd never suspect a thing! He even said Voldemort was too dumb to figure things out."

"Snivvy actual believes he can be a spy?" Sirius asked in pretended amazement.

"Yeah, he claims he knows something called Occlumency. It's some sort of dark magic that keeps you from getting your mind read."

"Urgh! I wouldn't want to read Snivellus' mind anyway! Think what garbage is in there!" Sirius gave a mock shiver.

James smiled and turned back to the bar and picked up his drink again. "This time tomorrow we can have the pleasure of seeing Snivvy being chased down by a bunch of Death Eaters trying to set his skinny arse on fire. By the way, this is between the three of us."

"Just like old times, Prongs," Sirius replied clapping him on his back. "What Lily doesn't know won't hurt her."

"We'd better get back, Padfoot. If were late to class again, McLachlan will throw a hissy fit."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus sat across from Kingsley in the Leaky Cauldron pretending to eat, but mostly rearranging the food around on his plate.

Kingsley noticed and asked, "What's wrong with you, Sev? You've hardly said two words tonight."

Severus sighed. "Why did you become friends with me?"

Kingsley seemed surprised at Severus' question. "Well, because I enjoy your company. You're very intelligent and I can talk about a lot of different subjects with you. When I go out with Moody or Crockford, we talk shop almost exclusively. In your company I can relax and discuss other topics. Why do you ask?"

"Because according to Dumbledore I have no friends and nobody would care if I disappeared permanently."

"What? When did he say this?"

Severus cast his _Muffliato_ spell and then explained to Kingsley about Dumbledore's visit and what had transpired during it.

"He actually said he would not save you if you got caught spying on Voldemort for him and that he wouldn't save you from going to Azkaban or from the Dementors' kiss?"

"Yes, and it made me feel like I wasn't worth much. I'm supposed to sacrifice myself for a bunch of ungrateful Gryffindors who are worthier than me to live!" Severus said angrily.

"You know, Severus, it never occurred to me until this moment, but I'm the only Ravenclaw and Edgar's the only Hufflepuff in the Order. Everybody else is a Gryffindor."

"No Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs or Slytherins were invited to join from the class of '78," Severus pointed out. "Only Gryffindors."

"Yes, I see what you mean. Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, Alice Warwick, and Mary McDonald were all invited to join, but nobody else."

"Dumbledore is a bigoted old fart and no different than Voldemort in my opinion. They're two sides of the same Galleon!"

Severus felt a bit more cheerful as he headed to his warding class. He sat down in the back of the classroom and opened his textbook. After a few moments, the door opened and an older man with thinning red hair and glasses came in, pushing a stroller with what looked to be twin babies in it and holding on to the hand of another boy who was about two. Two other boys, one about eight and the other about six followed him in. "Do you mind if I sit here by you? I want to be able to leave quickly if the twins start fussing."

"Sure," Severus said.

"I'm Arthur Weasley and this is my oldest son, Bill and my second oldest son, Charlie. This is Percy and these two are Fred and George." He was holding Percy in his lap and pushing the stroller back and forth with his foot. "My wife and a girlfriend are planning a bridal shower and so Molly asked me if I could take the children with me so they could plan their event undisturbed."

"That's Fred, Dad, and that's George," Charlie said pointing.

Arthur chuckled. "Molly and Charlie are the only ones that can tell the twins apart. The rest of us just have to guess and we're usually wrong."

Severus held out his hand to Arthur. "I'm Severus Snape." He looked at the twins. "Well, they're identical right down to the last detail."

"And they're extremely fussy right now. Molly and I have been walking the floor with them for the past two nights."

"I suppose they could be colicky, but I imagine with three other children you'd know the symptoms of that. Do you have any baby colic potion?"

Arthur shook his head. "Actually, no. None of the other boys ever had colic and we didn't get any as they've been doing so well until now. Do you think it would help?"

"Well, I'm not a pediatric healer, but the ingredients in it are calming and won't hurt them even if they don't have colic as long as you follow the dosage directions. I can brew you some for them if you like."

"No, that's really too much trouble," Arthur protested.

"It doesn't take long to brew so I can do it tonight."

Arthur sighed and said, "Well, I have to admit a good night's sleep is tempting right now so I would be very grateful as long as you don't mind doing it."

"Where do you work and I'll drop it off after my last class tomorrow."

"I work at here in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. It's on Level Two."

"Same floor as Auror Headquarters so I should be able to find it easy enough." He looked a Bill and Charlie, noticing for the first time that they each had a book. "What are you guys reading?"

"I'm reading a book about Egypt and the Pyramids because I want to be a Curse-Breaker when I graduate from Hogwarts," Bill said stoutly.

"And I'm reading a book about dragons 'cuz' I want to work with dragons on a Dragon Reserve. When I grow up," Charlie said excitedly.

"Well then, you're dad should take you to visit Rubeus Hagrid at Hogwarts. I'll bet he knows everything there is to know about dragons."

"What do you do, Mr. Snape?" Bill asked.

"I'm studying to be a Potion Master."

"What's that?" Charlie asked.

"Well, you know those icky tasting potions your mum makes you take when you're sick?" He saw both kids make a face. "I'm the one who will be brewing them for you once I get my certification. Although it's probably not as exciting as being a Curse-Breaker or working with dragons."

As the teacher came into the room, Arthur whispered to Bill and Charlie, "Okay guys, sit down and read your books and if I need to take Fred and George out into the hall because they're fussing I'll need you to keep an eye on Percy so he doesn't wander off."

"Okay, Dad," Bill replied.

When the class was over with, Arthur invited Severus to the Ministry tea shop. They settled at a table with their tea and biscuits which Bill, Charlie and Percy were glad to share. "I actually had an ulterior motive in getting to know you Severus," Arthur confessed. "I'm a member of the Order …"

Severus' face hardened and he started to get up, but Arthur grabbed his arm. "I didn't phrase that correctly. I am a member of the Order, but I want you to know that I don't in any way approve of what Albus did. That was wrong, very wrong."

Severus sat down again as Arthur continued, "I was so disgusted at what Albus and James were saying about you that I decided I would introduce myself and make my own decision about you for myself."

"And what have you decided?"

"That you're a good person and I'd trust you with my children."

"Thank you," Severus replied feeling very embarrassed. He looked down and twirled his teacup around on its saucer. "I apologize for jumping to an incorrect conclusion. Anytime I hear the names Potter or Black or Dumbledore I automatically see red."

"Understandable as they're both very self-centered young men who I hope grow up before they end up getting somebody hurt or killed due to their arrogance. Albus isn't helping matters by allowing them to make decisions about what the Order should do even over more experienced voices such as Alastor or Kingsley."

"It must be quite frustrating," Severus acknowledged.

"Yes." Arthur replied. He got up and shook Severus' hand. "I'm glad to have met you, Severus. Perhaps you'll come for dinner some night next week? Molly is an excellent cook!"

"I'd enjoy that, Arthur," Severus replied returning Arthur's handshake. Bill and Charlie waved at him, and Percy smiled as they left. Severus waved back and flooed to his house so he could brew the potions he promised Arthur.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

"My lord," the acolyte said bowing before the throne.

"Speak!" Voldemort ordered

"I have news for your lordship about Severus Snape."

"Ahh! Has Mr. Snape decided to make the right decision and join me?"

"No, He's still prefers to associate with Blood Traitors, Mudbloods and other vermin."

"Too bad. He could rise very high if he were to join me," Voldemort said with a shake of his head.

"He's not only decided against joining you, but he's offered himself to Dumbledore as a spy against you for payment!"

"How dare he!" Voldemort roared. "That worthless Half-blood! I was willing to overlook his dirty blood and allow him to flourish under my reign and this is what he offers me in return? Treachery!"

"I heard it from a reliable source, my lord. I heard it from James Potter who's on the Inner Council of the Order of the Phoenix." The acolyte replied, shivering on the ground in front of Voldemort. ""He lives on Spinner's End in a rundown section of Manchester, but his house is heavily warded as James and Sirius found out when they tried to break in."

Voldemort dismissed the spy. His rage against the ingrate Severus Snape knew no bounds. "Stephen, Lucius," Voldemort screamed in anger summoning Malfoy and Mulciber into the room. He never allowed any of his other followers in the room when he was meeting with his spy with the exception of Bellatrix who he knew would never betray him.

They hurried into the room, both shivering. Even though Mulciber was his lord's earliest acolyte he had learned to fear his temper. They bowed. "What may we do to please his lordship?" Mulciber said.

"You may punish, Mr. Snape and then you must bring him to me alive so I can administer his _final_ punishment. He's dared to offer himself to Dumbledore as a spy agains me!"

"Do we know if your spy tells the truth or he just made it up hoping to impress your lordship?" Lucius asked

"He heard it from somebody who is on the most secret inner council of the Dumbledore's Order." Voldemort snapped glaring at Lucius, his wand lifted threateningly.

"Of course, your lordship," Lucius stammered bowing hastily. He been on the receiving end of the _Cruciatus_ cast by the Dark lord once before and had no desire to experience it again

"Where does he live, my lord?" Mulciber asked.

"Spinners End in Manchester and his home is warded. Make sure the traitor suffers!" Voldemort threatened. "Or you shall suffer in his place!"

They bowed as Bellatrix cackled and sang loudly, "Snapey gonna suffer, Snapey gonna suffer, Snapey gonna suffer, Snapey gonna die!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 5**

The next day Severus dropped off the six vials of baby colic potion he'd brewed the night before at the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. "If you need any more just let me know. I can brew it easily enough."

"Thank you very much for this, Severus. I really appreciate your doing this. Oh! Molly would like you to come for dinner next Wednesday night if you're free?"

Severus nodded. "Wednesday would be fine, Arthur."

"Molly's a fabulous cook so be sure and bring your appetite."

"I will," Severus promised.

The rest of the week passed quickly. He didn't see Lily at school for which he was relieved as he still wasn't feeling too kindly towards any Gryffindors associated with Potter, Black or Dumbledore.

Severus spent Saturday cleaning out his parents' bedroom and found a wooden box of his mother's containing a set of golden gobstones. He hadn't realized his mother had been captain of the Hogwarts gobstones team and had competed in tournament with other magical schools. According to the plaque on the inside cover of the box they had won the tournament her 7th year and each team member had been awarded a set of golden gobstones in remembrance. He also found a flat square velvet box containing medals that his father had been awarded during his time as a Royal Marine. He decided he'd take them over to Mr. Evans; he would probably know what the medals signified having been in the Royal Air Force.

He cleaned out the closet and boxed up the clothes; Mrs. Evans would probably be able to tell him where he could take them. He levitated all the furniture into the middle of the room and then pulled down all the worn and faded wallpaper. "_Pingo Decolor Viridas_," He said and pointing his wand at the bare walls he painted them a pale green. "_Evanesco_," He said pointing his wand at the moldy, old carpet and old wallpaper. He levitated the furniture and _Scourgified_ the floor and then used a simple polishing spell, '_Nitesco_' to polish the floor. Severus set the furniture back down and used the '_Nitesco'_ spell to polish all the furniture and woodwork in the room.

He grabbed four handkerchiefs out of the drawer and transfigured them into sheer and drapes for the two windows. He went downstairs and grabbed a log out the big cauldron his mum had used to store the logs in and took it back upstairs. He pointed his wand at the old chair that sat by the windows and transfigured it into a comfortable recliner and then transfigured the log into a small pedestal-style end table and moved it next to the recliner.

Severus pointed his wand at the bed. "_Evanesco_," he said and vanished the box spring, mattress, pillows, sheets and blankets. The only thing remaining was the bed frame. He transfigured it into a four poster bed, much like the one he'd slept in for seven years at Hogwarts, but minus the canopy and bed curtains. He lengthened and widened the frame and then went into the bathroom and got two cotton balls. He transfigured one into box springs and the other into a mattress. He grabbed some handkerchiefs from the drawer; Tobias for some unknown reason had an entire top drawer full of them, and transfigured two of them into a bottom and top sheets of a pale green. He made the bed and then took another cotton ball and transfigured it into a rich green comforter with silver edging. He pulled it over the sheets. He took two more cotton ball and transfigured them into pillows and two more handkerchiefs into pale green pillow cases that mached the sheets. He smiled and stretched out on the bed, sighing gratefully. His feet didn't even touch the footboard so he had judged the length correctly.

He got up and went into the bathroom which was disgusting and looked as if it hadn't been cleaned since his mum had died and it probably hadn't been. "_Scourgify_," Severus said pointing his wand at the toilet and then the sink, bathtub, tile floor and wall tiles. They immediately became clean and bright. "_Aguamenti_," Severus said pointing his wand at the mirror and washing it clean of grime. He used a drying spell on it so it wouldn't streak. "_Pingo_ _Caeruleus_," Severus said painting the dingy white walls above the tile a cheerful sky blue. He pointed his wand at the window above the toilet and said, "_Dilato Adstringo_," expanding and tightening the window in its frame. He got two more handkerchiefs and transfigured them into curtain for the window. It's not that he was worried about somebody seeing in; he just preferred his room to be completely dark at night. "_Evanesco_," he said pointing his wand at the dirty, ripped shower curtain and vanishing it. Iris had bought a shower curtain for the bathroom next to his former bedroom and he would need to ask her where she had bought it.

The telephone ringing downstairs interrupted his thoughts and he ran downstairs and pulled it out of the drawer he'd stuffed it in after Lily had called him. "Hello?"

"Sev, I was hoping you were still there," Iris said. "I'm inviting you over for dinner. I made an entire roast thinking Lily's fiancé and his three friends would be here, but they were all called to some sort of emergency meeting for that defense club or whatever they're all members of. I really don't like the idea of Lily being part of that, but since she is an adult now, I can't stop her. I think they always have a potluck or something after the meeting."

"Give me about fifteen minutes to shower and change and I'll be over. I haven't eaten since breakfast so I am hungry."

"Okay, just come in when you get here. The front door will be unlocked."

Severus hung up, took a quick shower and dressed in the clothes he'd been wearing when he came and left his grubby work clothes laying on the floor in the bathroom. He grabbed the medals out of the dresser drawer and left his home after locking the front door and walked quickly down to the Evans' home. He knocked on the front door and then went inside. Richard came out of the dining room to greet him. 'Sev, we haven't seen in three weeks. What have you been up to?"

Severus shrugged. "Just the usual, studying and working." He grinned. "And cleaning. Speaking of which I found these medals that my father must have been awarded and I wondered if you could tell me what they were awarded to him for.

Richard opened the box and looked at the medals. "Well, I recognize some of them right off and they're generally awarded for bravery above and beyond the call of duty. I'll check with some of my other friends who are Veterns and get you complete information. May I keep them for a bit?"

Severus nodded. "I'd appreciate any information you can find out."

"How's your house coming, Sev?" Iris called as she set the roast on the table

"Fine, but I do need to ask you some questions."

"Have a seat. Rich just needs to slice the roast."

Severus pulled out Iris' chair for her and seated her and then sat down. There was a big bowl of mashed potatoes, a bowl of roasted onions and another of peas, a basket of homemade rolls and a gravy boat containing thick brown gravy. It smelled heavenly and Severus suddenly realized how hungry he really was.

They filled their plates and Iris filled all their cups from the teapot sitting on the table. "Now, what did you need?"

"Well, the first thing is I need a shower curtain for the other bathroom upstairs."

"I can get that for you, Sev," Iris volunteered. "What color is the bathroom?"

"It white tile mostly, but the walls above the tile I just painted sky blue."

"Okay, I'll look and see if I can find something that will go with it."

"The next thing I need is a house painter to paint the outside of my house and the trim and a carpenter to rebuild the front porch, back porch, and put new shutters on the windows in front."

"I can find you both of those without any problem," Richard replied. "How much progress have you made on the inside?"

"I've finished most of the downstairs and my parents' bedroom. I'm going to turn my old bedroom into my study. There's another room upstairs my parents must have used for storage I'm assuming because it's filled with junk. I'll have to clear that out. The back room downstairs I still have to convert into a lab; I've only got a rudimentary one now. I'm going to need blinds for the windows in there."

"I'll come over and measure the windows for you and Rich can put them up once we buy them," Iris said.

"The last thing is that I want to go back to that appliance store we went to before and buy a washing machine and a dryer and possibly a telly. I thought it might be nice to have one if I have my classmates over for a study session. We have a study group and we meet on Monday nights."

"I was so happy to hear about your inheritance, Sev," Richard said.

"Thank you. I have to admit it shocked the hell out of me. I never gave it any thought because although I knew my mum had come from a wealthy family, she had been disinherited and it isn't as if my grandfather left it to me anyway. He left it to his younger brother and his heirs and if they couldn't be found, he left it up to Zort to decide what to do with it and he's the one that made the decision that I should inherit it." Severus was surprised to see someone had refilled his plate while he wasn't looking, but he ate it as Iris was a fantastic cook.

Iris cleared their plates and brought in an apple cobbler dessert. She cut Severus a big piece and set the plate in front of him. "Would you like some ice cream with that, Sev?"

"No thanks, I'm fine." He had just taken a bite of it when he heard a distinctive crack from across the street. There were three more after the first one. He readied his wand – just in case, but figured it was most likely Lily and the four stooges. When he heard Lily's voice at the front door he got up. "Thank you for the delicious dinner, but I'd better be getting back home. Let me know when you want to come over and measure the windows." He was just about n to leave by the back door when he heard Lily call, "Sev?"

"Fuck!" Severus muttered. He turned around and said. "Good evening. If you'll excuse me, I was just leaving."

"What's Snivellus doing here?" James demanded.

"This is our house, Mr. Potter and you do not decide who can be a guest here," Richard said coldly. "I don't care if you're the Queen of England which you're not."

James mouth dropped open at Richard's tone, but he directed his ire at Severus. "You stay away from my fiancée, Snivellus."

Severus shrugged lazily and said in a silky tone, "I have no interest in your fiancée, Potter. If Evans wants to be your trophy wife it's certainly no concern of mine." He nodded at Richard and Iris. "Let me know about what we discussed." He shoved between Potter and Black and left by the front door and walked back to his home. Once he got home, he sank down on the couch laughing so hard his stomach started hurting. He wondered how long it would take the dunderhead to figure out he'd been insulted.

Severus spent the rest of the evening working on getting his potion lab set up. He got two logs and transfigured them into two, long sturdy wooden tables and then went outside and found four large rocks. He set them down on the tables and transfigured them in stone bowls, being careful to make them wide and deep. He went down into the cellar and rummaged around in Tobias' work bench before finding four nut screws. He took them back upstairs and put one in each bowl and then transfigured them into metal burners. He would need to get wood chips to put in the bowls and four new caldrons. There was a half-bath off this room, consisting of a sink and toilet only.

"_Scourgify_," He said, cleaning it entirely with a sweep of his wand. He transfigured the sink so that it was bigger and deeper, but took up the same amount of space. He would be able to wash out his cauldrons in here rather than having to drag them to the kitchen sink. He got another log and transfigured into a cupboard where he would keep his potion ingredients. He yawned and decided to quit for the night. He decided he would stay here tonight and try out his new bed. He wanted to get an early start on his study tomorrow and Iris would be over to measure the windows for venetian blinds for this room tomorrow.

He went upstairs, turned on the light and pulled the drapes shut. He took a shower, brushed his teeth and got undressed, tuned off his lights and went to bed. His bed was comfortable and the room was completely dark the way he liked it. He quickly fell asleep.

The next morning he got up at six and flooed to the Leaky Cauldron and brought himself breakfast to take back to his house. He made a pot of tea and sat enjoying his breakfast and reading _**The Daily Prophet**_. Granted, it was a piece of garbage that was more useful for the bottom of a bird cage rather than for any actual information. He stretched his legs. The house was so different now. No more slamming doors, yelling or breaking dishes. He was old enough and far enough away from it now to be able to view his childhood differently. Maybe his mum should have told his father she was a witch before they were married; maybe his father should have been more understanding about why she didn't tell him. He finished breakfast and went outside to change the wards so Iris could come through when she got here.

He went upstairs to his former bedroom and the first thing he did was pull down the ugly, flowered wallpaper he'd always hated. "_Evanesco_," he said pointing his wand at the pile of wallpaper. He levitated all the furniture and pointed his wand at the rug and said, "_Evanesco_." He used the polishing spell to polish the floor. He lowered the furniture again and vanished the mattress on his bed, leaving only the walnut frame which he transfigured into a desk. He transfigured his former desk and nightstand into bookcases.

There was a knock on the front door and he went to answer it. Iris stood on the porch and behind her stood Lily. He stepped back so they could come in and shut the door after them. "The lab's down the hall off the dining room," He said to Iris.

"Okay, I'll get started on measuring the windows. By the way Rich checked with some of his co-workers and thinks he's found you a reliable carpenter and house painter. He says they were recommended by at least four people."

"Great. I'll give Mr. Evans a call and see if we can set up a time for them to come over next week and see what the job might cost."

"What are you having done, Sev?" Lily asked.

"I'm having both the front and back porches rebuilt and the house repainted," Severus answered. He started walking towards the lab.

"You've done a really nice job on your house. It doesn't look at all like I remember it."

"Thanks." He walked into the lab where Iris was measuring the windows. "Do you want me to buy the blinds for you, Sev?" Iris asked.

"It would probably be best as I frankly would have no idea what I was doing," Severus grinned. "That reminds me. I need to go to _Gringotts_ and get some money out of my vault and I need to go to _Scribbulus_, too for parchment, ink and quills. It shouldn't take me more than a half-hour."

"I'll go to," Lily decided. "I need to stop a _Flourish & Blotts_ to buy a book that Professor Edwardson recommended."

"I'd rather you didn't, Evans. I don't fancy your fiancé and his buddies seeing you with me and deciding to hang me upside down again and strip me naked in the middle of Diagon Alley."

"James, Sirius, Remus and Peter went to a Quidditch match and won't be back until late evening most likely."

"All right, but I don't have time to dawdle," Severus warned as they returned to the living room.

"I don't dawdle!" Lily snapped.

He went over to his fireplace and grabbed some floo powder out the china cauldron. "Coming?"

Lily stamped angrily over to the fireplace and ducked into it and stood beside Severus. He threw down the floo powder and said. "Gringotts."

Lily looked dumbfounded when they stepped out at Gringotts. James had told her that only the wealthiest customers were allowed to use the Floo connection. She was even more surprised when a Goblin came up to greet him personally. "Hello, Mr. Snape."

"Hello, Zort," Severus replied. "May your riches and those of your family increase every day."

"And may your wealth and the wealth of your family increase sevenfold, Mr. Snape," Zort replied with the ancient greeting.

"I'd like to visit my vault."

"Of course, Mr. Snape. If you'll come with me this way."

Severus knew Lily wouldn't want to go down to the vaults because she was frightened of heights. "If you don't want to wait, Evans. I'll meet you at _Flourish & Blotts_."

Lily crossed her arms over her chest and said, "I'll wait."

Severus shrugged. "Suit yourself." Zort led him over to the cart track and whistled for a cart and it came flying up, rattling loudly. They got in and it took off with Zort steering it. The Prince vaults were in the highest security area. Zort stopped the cart in front of the first one and they got out. He ran his finger down the seam and opened the vault. Severus was stunned. There was more Galleons, Sickles and Knuts in there than he'd ever seen in his entire eighteen years.

"Your other vaults contain gold, silver as well as jewelry, valuable art work, tapestries, books and furniture."

Severus filled one moleskin bag with Galleons, Sickles and Knuts that he planned to use in Diagon Alley, shrank it and put it in his pocket. The other bag he filled with Galleons and gave to Zort to convert to Muggle money that he would need to pay the carpenter and painter and buy the new washer, dryer and television set.

Lily was still waiting when they returned. Zort went to the exchange counter and quickly began the exchange process. He returned with a thick roll of pound notes and gave it to Severus who bowed and said, "Thank you for your excellent service, Zort. It is always appreciated."

Zort returned the bow and said, "Thank you for honoring us with your business, Mr. Snape."

Lily's eye bulged a bit when she saw the roll of pound notes. "You'd best put that somewhere safe, Sev. You don't want that money to get nicked. What do you need that much money for anyway?"

"I'm going to be opening up an account at a bank since I'm going to be living mostly in the neighborhood and I can't very well tell the grocer to take the money out of my Gringotts' account."

"How come the Goblins allow you to floo directly to Gringotts? James' told me that only the wealthiest customers are allowed to do it."

"It's because I'm the grandson of Tiberius Prince. The Goblins really respected him and he returned they're respect. Mum taught me a lot about the Goblins that she learned from my grandfather."

They went to _Scribbulus Everchanging Inks_ and he bought parchment, ink and a selection of quills. They went to _Flourish & Blotts_ next and they separated. Lily went to look for the book Professor Edwardson had recommended and Severus went to see if there were any new potion books. He also needed to find a dinner gift for Wednesday night. He knew Molly liked to cook and decided to buy her the recently published, '_The Gourmet Witches Favorite Recipes_' by Freda Huskpuller and two new potion books for himself. When he came up to the counter to pay for the books. Lily was shaking hands with the manager, Mr. Blotts. He turned to Severus and smiled. Severus had been buying books here since he was eight and was a well-know customer to all the staff. He took the books from Severus and rang them up on the magical cash register. "Two Galleons, Severus."

Severus handed him two Galleons and took his bag containing the books. "Thank you."

As they went back outside Lily said, "I'm going to be working there part-time after I get out of class and on weekends. Mr. Blotts has offered me the job more than once since I turned seventeen and I decided to accept his offer now. I can't expect mum and dad to pay for my entire education even though they're willing."

They went to Eeylops Owl Emporium because Severus wanted to buy an owl. He had never wanted to have a familiar of any sort while at Hogwarts, figuring that Potter and Black were mean enough to deliberately injure or kill it. The owl he chose was a Great Horned Owl and he decided to name it Poseidon. He also bought a cage and some treats for him.

They went into the Leaky Cauldron and flooed back to Severus' house. Iris was still there so Severus took two hundred pound notes off the roll he had and gave it to her. "Will be this be enough to pay for the blinds?"

"More than enough, Sev," Iris assured him. "I'll buy the blinds next week Rich can put them up for you. Would you like me to go grocery shopping for you also?"

"That would be great. If I stop over Thursday after class, can you help me to open up a bank account? Since I'll be living here I can't use Gringotts."

"That's fine, Sev."

Lily was a bit put out that Severus got along so well with her parents, but would barely speak to her.

The week went fast. Monday night was study group, Tuesday night he had dinner with Kingsley at the Leaky Cauldron. Severus asked Kingsley if the Evans has could be warded and their fire-place connected to the Floo Network. "You can tell them that Dumbledore is having all the Order members homes warded because of the Death Eater attacks. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have always treated me like their own son and it would kill me if anything happened to them."

"I don't see a problem with that. The Evans accepted the Code of Secrecy so there shouldn't be any problem getting them hooked up to the Floo Network. Alastor and I can probably do it tomorrow night in fact."

Wednesday night he had dinner with the Weasley's. When he appeared in the floo at the Burrow he was eagerly greeted by Bill, Charlie and Percy.

"Boys," Molly called. "Where are your manners? Please let Severus get out of the floo before you jump on him."

"Sorry, Mum," Bill said. The three boys stepped back so he could step out and then they surrounded him asking questions and telling him about the new things they'd learned

"Severus, welcome to the Burrow," Arthur said coming into the kitchen.

"Dinner is just about ready so have a seat anywhere at the table," Molly added.

The table was long and surrounded by mismatched chairs. Severus sat down and then remembered the gift he had for Molly. "This is for you, Molly."

Molly eyes lit up when she saw the title of the book. "Severus, this is wonderful! I was just reading a review of this book in **_Witch Weekly_** and I'm anxious to try the recipes."

The dinner was, as Arthur promised, delicious. They had baked ham and roasted chicken, potatoes, stuffing, vegetables and gravy. Fred and George were fine again, but were more interested in throwing their food at each other rather than eating it. Molly kept refilling his plate all the while declaring that he was much too thin.

"Mrs. Evans always says the same thing."

There was apple cobbler for dessert and Molly cut him a big piece. After dinner was finished Arthur and Molly excused themselves and took the twins, who at this point were covered in food, upstairs to bathe them and get them ready for bed. Severus sat downstairs talking to Bill and Charlie while Percy sat in his lap.

"Do you want to see our pumpkin patch, Severus?" Charlie asked.

"It's still light enough so I guess I could," Severus said. He carried Percy and followed Bill and Charlie out to the pumpkin patch. It was quite large and Severus could see many pumpkins. "Looks like you'll have a lot of pumpkins."

"Dad says there's too many and he doesn't know what we're going to do with them all," Bill said.

"Well, I'm sure your mum probably knows a lot of recipes for pumpkin and I imagine she can make just about anything and it will taste delicious."

He left when it was time for the other children to go to bed, but not before he promised to come back again as soon. Severus flooed back to the college and got ready for bed.

Thursday he went with Iris to open an account at the same bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, that the Evans banked at. He opened the account with £2000. Iris was telling him about Kingsley and Moody coming to their house. "They said Professor Dumbledore asked to have protection put up at all the club members' homes and connected our fireplace so Lily can use it to get to places in your world. I invited them both to stay for dinner. I liked them both, but Mr. Moody is a rather odd character. If that's the way all these special forces or whatever they're called, are going to end up looking then I'm certainly glad Lily decided on a different career!"

"Aurors are allowed to use Unforgivables on the Death Eaters; they're spells when used would normally put you in Azkaban unless you could prove you had a legitimate reason to use one. Moody has always refused to use them and has always tried to bring his Death Eaters in alive, but he's paid a price for it. He's the best Auror the Ministry has, but he is somewhat eccentric."

"Well, he obviously has very high principles," Iris said in admiration.

"There are some Aurors I'm sure who would use an Unforgivable at the slightest excuse," Severus replied thinking of Potter and Black.

By the middle of October all the repairs to Severus' house had been completed and his house painted a pale blue with white trim with dark blue shutters on the windows in front. Inside he had a new washer, dryer, and a brand new television set. At his request, Richard had hired someone to haul away all the junk Tobias had thrown out on one side of the house. He planned to dig that up next spring and plant a vegetable and herb garden, and have a separate plot for magical plants.

When he flooed home four days before Halloween, he found a gift wrapped box sitting on the kitchen table. The card with it said it was an early housewarming gift from the Evans. Severus opened it and found it was a Muggle appliance called a Crockpot. He read the instruction booklet and was delighted to find he could put food in it in the morning and it would cook it all day without burning it and his dinner would be ready when he came home. It was really a thoughtful gift. He wrote a thank you note, summoned Poseidon, and sent him off to the Evans. When the owl returned he sent off a letter to Regulus Black who was in his last year at Hogwarts. He had become like a big brother to Reg after Sirius had rejected him because he was sorted into Slytherin and he'd shielded and kept Reg away from those intending to join Voldemort. He invited Reg over for dinner when he was home for the holidays.

He made himself a light dinner; Iris used the money he gave her to make certain his refrigerator was always full and whenever she baked, she doubled it and bought it over so he always had a cake, pie, cookies or fresh bread available.

After dinner, Severus went upstairs to finish his essay for Professor Ravencroft. He was reading over the essay and thinking it would only need a few minor edits before he handed it in. He laid it on his desk, thinking he would do the edits tomorrow, shut off the light and went into his bedroom. Poseidon had come back from hunting and was sitting in his cage munching on a fat frog. Severus closed the window and was going to sit in his recliner and read for awhile when he suddenly noticed his alarm was flashing. Somebody was attempting to breech his wards again. He wondered if it was the same miscreants who had tried to breech them before. He noxed his lights and crept downstairs. The downstairs lights were already off and he lifted one of the blind slats and peered out. He could make out two individuals. As one of them stepped under the streetlamp Severus saw a flash of silver and knew they were Death Eaters. He also caught a glimpse of white blond hair. Severus smiled. So, his old friend Lucius Malfoy had come to call. He had been a Prefect his first year and had tried to take him under his wing, but he had rejected Lucius' overtures in no uncertain terms and Lucius had resented him ever since. He disillusioned himself and went out the back door, thankful that he'd oiled all the hinges on his doors. He walked silently around to the front of his house and through the wards. He was behind Malfoy and quickly cast a non-verbal _Stupefy_ followed quickly by an _Incarcerous_ spell. Lucius never knew what hit him as he collapsed to the ground bound by ropes. Unfortunately for Severus, his spells revealed his location to the other Death Eater. He removed the _Disillusion Charm_ and prepared for the fight of his life.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**A/N: **Remember – this story is not canon so Lily's Patronus is not canon. I always figured Ms. Rowling made the stag/doe thing to make the point that old Pothead and Lily were 'destined' to be together. Yuck! Where's my barf bag?

**Chapter 6**

Lily woke up suddenly and she didn't know what had awakened her when she suddenly noticed the flashes of light coming from her windows that faced the street in the front of the house. She pushed back the covers and got up, wondering if it was lightening yet she didn't recall hearing any peals of thunder. She opened one of the windows and stuck her head out it, looking up and down the street. There was another flash of light and this time she realized two things: that it was red and that it was near Sev's house. She threw on her robe, jammed her feet into her slippers, and ran out into the hallway, grabbing her wand up on the way. She pounded on her parents' door and then Petunia's door.

"Lily, what on earth is wrong?" Richard asked sleepily.

"I think Death Eaters might be attacking Sev's house. I'm going to send my Patronus to Moody."

She ran downstairs and within seconds had sent her Patronus, a brilliant white unicorn, to Moody with the message that Death Eaters were attacking Severus' home. She hurried back upstairs and threw on whatever clothes she could grab and stuck her feet into her trainers. "You stay inside and don't come out unless you get an all-clear from me," she said to her parents and Petunia.

"Lily …" Iris started to protest, but Lily waved her off. "Mum, I've been trained in defense."

She ran outside and immediately saw her Patronus appear and heard two cracks in the park across the street. She held her wand at ready in case there were more Death Eaters, but she saw Kingsley running after her Patronus and Moody limping as fast as he could after him. Looking up the street she saw another flash of red light and then a few seconds later a final flash of red light. Lily gnawed at her nails anxiously. Was Sev all right or was he dead? She heard two more sharp cracks and saw two more men running towards Sev's house, but fortunately they wore the red and blue robes of Aurors.

It was about ten minutes more before she could make out somebody coming towards the house. She could see it was Moody, but she wasn't going to let him come through the wards unless she was sure. As he limped up Lily pointed her wand at him and asked, "What did Dumbledore say to us at the last meeting of the Order."

"That we had a spy in our ranks and that's something I've been warning him about for some time now."

Lily dropped her wand and allowed him to step through. She could see her parents and Petunia crowded at the front door. They came out on the porch. "Is Sev all right?" Lily said.

"No. He was hit with a cutting curse. Kid was still fighting even after he was hit and was losing a lot of blood. He collapsed just in time to avoid being hit by Mulciber's final stun, but it gave Shacklebolt time to stupefy Mulciber and me to bind him. He'd already stunned Lucius Malfoy and bound him. I sent for Aurors Crockford and Knightly to take Malfoy and Mulciber back to Auror Headquarters and imprison them. We'll get them talking and find out why they were after the kid." Moody looked up the street with his magical eye focused and shook his head. "I don't see anybody up there now. Kingsley called a healer friend of his. They probably got the kid stabilized enough to move him to St. Mungo's." Moody shook his head. "We'll need to get the Obliviators out here tomorrow. Merlin only knows how many Muggles witnessed this."

"Maybe none because nobody seems to have called the Muggle constables," Lily said.

"Probably a good thing they didn't because they would have been dead otherwise," Moody replied. He turned around. "I need to inform Dumbledore what happened here tonight." He went through the wards, limped over to the park and apparated.

"If Sev's at St Mungo's we'll go there and make sure he's all right," Iris said. "After all, we're the closest thing he has to a family."

"Of course, Mum. We can floo over as soon as you get dressed," Lily answered running her hand through her hair in a distracted manner.

Twenty minutes later a strange parade of people stepped out of the floo at St. Mungo's. Both Iris and Petunia had their hair in large rollers that they'd covered with colorful scarves. Richard was wearing old jeans and an old plaid shirt and Lily's jeans and shirt were completely mismatched. Lily went over to the front desk where the Welcome Witch was reading an old copy of **_Witch Weekly_**. "Excuse me?"

"Have a seat and a healer will be out to see you shortly," she said without even looking up from her magazine.

"I'm not sick. I'm looking for Severus Snape who was bought in probably within the last half-hour with a cutting curse wound."

"Never heard of him. Try the Spell Damage ward on four," she advised in a bored tone.

Lily went back over to her parents and Petunia and nodded in the direction of the front desk. "She thinks Sev might be on the fourth floor which is spell damage." Lily led the way with Petunia complaining, "Hasn't the wizarding world ever heard of lifts?"

When they entered the Spell Damage ward, the first thing they saw was Kingsley slumped in a chair. His blue robe was covered in blood. Lily was shocked to realize it must be Sev's blood.

"Kingsley, how is Sev?" Lily asked.

Kingsley shook his head. "I don't know. My friend, Healer Faircloud is in with Sev and another healer who's a colleague of Ian's and specializes in cursed wounds." He looked down at himself and grimaced. "I'm sorry I should have cleaned my robes before you came."

"Was Sev conscious at all," Iris asked. "Did he say anything?"

Kingsley frowned. "As a matter of fact he did. He said something about Mulciber yelling about Voldemort ordering Severus to be killed because he offered himself to Dumbledore as a spy, but that's not what Sev told me."

"What are you talking about, Kingsley?" Lily asked in confusion.

"Sev told me that Dumbledore wanted him to spy for the Order, but he refused because if he was exposed as a spy, Dumbledore refused to send anybody in to save him or if he was arrested for being a Death Eater, Dumbledore wouldn't stand up for him even if he were sentenced to be kissed."

"I can't believe Dumbledore said that!" Lily exclaimed.

"That's not right at all," Richard snapped. "Every organization that has spies always has a plan to extract them out of dangerous situations because they know their spies can only stay undercover for so long before they're exposed and most time they're immune from any prosecution."

"I don't know why he didn't call me for help before he went out to fight those Death Eaters," Kingsley said with another shake of his head.

"Because he's so used to doing everything for himself because he's never had anybody he _could_ depend on," Lily answered bitterly.

The door to Severus' room opened and the two healers walked out talking. "How's Sev, Ian?"

"We got the bleeding stopped, but we've had to put him in a _Stasis Spell_ for now to make sure he doesn't toss about and start bleeding again," Ian answered. He extended his hand towards the other man. "This is Master Healer Simon Dordt and he specializes in curse wounds."

"What does stasis mean?" Iris asked.

"It's similar to a medically induced coma, Mum," Lily explained.

"How do cursed wounds differ from regular wounds?" Richard asked.

Healer Dordt took over the explanation. "Cursed wounds take much longer to heal than regular wounds and it's going to take a lot more of Mr. Snape's magic to heal it which is going to leave him feeling very tired for quite a while and sleeping a lot more than usual. I'm sorry to say it's mainly a 'wait-and-see' process and there's no standard protocol for treating curse wounds."

"Can we see Severus?" Petunia asked.

"Yes, but I'd rather just one of you went in as he is still weak from blood loss," Healer Dordt replied.

"Lily, why don't you go in then," Petunia suggested.

Lily nodded. "Okay. I promise I'll only stay a few minutes." She pushed open the door of Severus' room and went inside. The first thing she noticed was the light blue aura that surrounded him from head to toe. She knew that was the _Stasis Spell_. He was so pale almost whiter than the pillow his head was lying on. "You're going to be all right, Sev. Don't worry about anything and just concentrate on getting well again," Lily whispered. She left the room and returned home with her parents and Petunia.

The next morning Lily grabbed _**The Daily Prophet**_ as soon as the owl delivered it. She opened it to see the headline was '_**Death Eaters Attack Near Manchester! One Reported Seriously Injured!**_' There was a picture of Minister Bagnold and Rufus Scrimgeour talking to reporters. Lily could see Rita Skeeter in front of the crowd no doubt trying to find out who the victim was and get some dirt on them.

There was a tap on the kitchen window and Lily got up to let the owls in. One owl belonged to her best friend, Alice Warwick and the other was one of the many Hogwarts' owls and she assumed it was from Remus. Both notes were full of concerns for her safety. Both owls were waiting for her replies so she wrote a quick note to each of them assuring them that she and her family were okay.

"Does your fiancé get the paper?" Petunia asked

"Of course," Lily replied. "Althea has to keep up on all the gossip after all."

"Well, you've gotten owls from two of your friends, but he hasn't come rushing over to make sure you're safe," she pointed out.

Lily frowned. Petunia had her there and there was no denying it. Why hadn't James come over immediately or at least fire-called to make sure she and her family were okay? But on the other hand, she hadn't felt the need to call him either and tell him what had happened because he'd only find a way to blame Sev for the whole thing and she really didn't want to listen to that. "I don't know, Petunia. Maybe he hasn't read the paper yet."

Petunia snorted. "If he reads anything but those Quadodge scores I'll eat my words."

"Mum, I'm going to floo over to the college and let Dean Stanwood know what happened to Sev. He's usually in his office even on weekends and then I'll check on Sev and see how he's doing." Lily said changing the subject.

"All right, dear, but be very careful."

"I will, Mum," Lily promised. After she helped clean up the kitchen, she took a shower, got dressed and flooed over to the College of Potions. She knocked on the door of Dean Stanwood's office and he opened it. "Miss Evans, I'm happy to see you're all right. I read about that terrible attack in Manchester." He shook his head.

"Actually that's what I came to see you about. It was Severus that was hurt in that attack. He was hit with a cutting curse and the healers have got him in stasis for now because he was losing so much blood. He'll be off his feet for some time so I was wondering if I could collect the lecture notes and assignments every day."

"Yes. Mr. Snape is one of the most brilliant potions students we've had at this college and I don't think any of the professors will mind copying their lecture notes. I'll have Mr. Snape's class notes and assignments in my office by the end of the day and you can pick them up before you leave for the day."

"Thank you. I'd also like to let Sev's classmates know what happened to him. By tomorrow the _**Prophet**_ will probably know his identity and will publish it and I don't want them to find out what happened by reading it in the paper."

"Perfectly understandable, Miss Evans and I'm sure they will appreciate your thinking of them." Dean Stanwood said. He sent off a paper summons to each one of Severus' classmates. Soon they were all assembled in the Dean's office."

"Vat is going on?" Boris asked in confusion.

Lily explained what had happened. "I'm really concerned about Sev." There was a loud snort from April, but Lily ignored it. "I know that he'd want you all to know what happened and not read it in the _**Prophet**_."

"So these Death Eaters did attack Severus because he refused to work for this Voldemort?" Kaemon asked.

"We don't know why they targeted Severus, but the Aurors are working on finding out."

"Well, Merlin's Blessed Beard I'll certainly say a prayer for him," Colleen said.

"When he wakes up, please tell him we miss him and class isn't going to be the same without him," Michelle said.

"Tell Sevrus ve vill come and see him vhen ve can," Boris said.

Lily nodded. "I'll let him know." As Sev's classmates left the Dean's office Lily called, "April, may I talk with you?"

"I really have nothing to say to you except why don't you leave Severus alone? Haven't you hurt him enough refusing to speak to him for two years and treating him like dirt under your feet?"

"Do you have a romantic interest in Sev?"

April gave her a Severus-worthy sneer. "Not that it's any of your business, but no. Severus and I became allies at Hogwarts against Potter and his goons. He helped me out if he saw they were bothering me and I did the same for him. Of course you were probably too busy being Head Girl and receiving everybody's adoration as the 'golden couple' to notice what your boyfriend was up to. Even when he was Head Boy the goon squad wouldn't leave him alone. I imagine old Pottybrain was pretty pissed because he didn't get Head Boy."

"You must be mistaken. James stopped hexing people and started growing up after fifth year and he promised me when I agreed to date him that he would leave Sev alone."

"I suggest you ask Severus about that," April snapped, turning and striding away leaving Lily stunned.

Lily stopped at St. Mungo's before returning home. Severus was still unconscious and surrounded by the _Stasis Spell_. His face seemed to have a little more color than the night before so the _Blood Replenishing_ potions must be working. She bumped into Kingsley on her way out. "Have those Death Eaters had anything to say?"

Kingsley grinned. "Malfoy's claiming he was _Imperiused_ and he's been singing like a canary. He claims Voldemort ordered him and Mulciber to capture Severus and bring him to Voldemort who would torture and kill him for daring to offer himself as a spy against him. Malfoy said he was really angry that he'd tried to recruit Severus, but he turned him down flat. Apparently this spy picked up the wrong information somewhere."

"Does Malfoy know who this spy is?"

Kingsley shook his head. "Apparently this spy reports directly to Voldemort so they never see him. He said the only one who would probably know his identity would be Bellatrix. He called Malfoy and Mulciber into the room to give them their orders after the spy had left. He told us that Voldemort claims his spy heard the information from a reliable source that's on the inner council of the Order."

"I thought everything discussed by the inner council was supposed to be classified?" Lily said. That's what James is always telling me."

"Apparently, Dumbledore doesn't only have a spy to worry about, but has a leak somewhere also." Kingsley shook his head again. "It's no wonder the Order is losing the fight against Voldemort!"

Healer Faircloud came down the hall and nodded at Lily and Kingsley before going into Severus room. When he came out again he stopped to talk with them. "Healer Dordt and I have decided to bring Severus out of the stasis tomorrow and see how he does, but if he starts bleeding again, we'll have to put him back into it."

The next morning _**The** **Daily Prophet**_ identified Severus as the one who had been injured in the Death Eater attack on Manchester. The article went on to say that he had disarmed one Death Eater and was dueling another, even though he himself had been seriously wounded, when the Aurors arrived. Moody went on record as saying his actions had probably prevented more Muggle deaths; he was a hero and should be awarded The Order of Merlin, First Class.

Lily was shocked when she got an owl from Regulus Black wanting to know how Severus was. Reg had never liked her after she and Severus had had their falling out in fifth year. She wrote him back, describing Severus condition and sent the note off with Poseidon who she was taking care of until Sev was released from the hospital.

When Lily stopped by the hospital the next day after her last class with Severus' assignments and the lecture notes of his professors, Healer Dordt was coming out of his room. "Miss Evans, I'm glad you're here."

"Is Sev okay?" Lily asked anxiously. "Healer Faircloud said yesterday that you were going to take him out of _stasis_ today."

"Yes, we did and he's doing well so far. I believe he's starting to come around also, but he probably won't be very lucid for a few days yet because of all the potions we've had to give him."

"I understand," she said nodding. She went into his room and laid her book bag on top of a chair. She quickly transfigured a chair into a rectangle with small cubbyholes and stuck the first roll of parchment into it. This way Sev would know what assignment he needed to do first as she would place each day's assignment into a different cubbyhole. She went over to the bed and looked at Severus. He seemed to be resting comfortably. She picked up his hand, squeezed it and said, "Healer Dordt says you're doing fine, Sev. Mum and Dad are looking after your house and I'm collecting your lecture notes and assignments for you so don't worry about anything."

At the sound of her voice, Severus opened his eyes. Lily gasp in surprise, but his eyes looked unfocused and she wasn't certain he was even able to see her clearly. He reached up and trailed one long finger over her cheekbone. "Thought I was going to die …only thought …never see your beautiful face again …or tell you I love you …always have …more than Potter ever …will."

Lily squeezed his hand. "You were right about me, Sev. I _was_ a complete bitch those last two years of school. I was angry at you because you didn't even seem to miss me or our friendship."

"I was …mad at you …hanging around with Potter and friends …didn't miss me."

"I guess we both got our signals crossed, but maybe we can get them uncrossed now," Lily said giving his hand a squeeze.

"May …be," Severus said drifting back off to sleep.

Lily stood there another few minutes holding his hand and then bent down and kissed his forehead. "I love you, too. I'll see you tomorrow, Sev." Even though he was asleep, Lily swore she saw a smile on his face.

When she got home she started working on her assignments that were due next week, but she couldn't really concentrate. There was a knock on her door. "Come in."

Petunia stuck her head in the door. "Can I come in?"

Of course," Lily said and moved over on her bed so Petunia could sit down.

"Did you see Severus today?"

"Yes. I dropped off the lecture notes from his classes and his assignments." She looked down at her hands. "They took him out of stasis this morning and he was even conscious for a few minutes."

"Did he say anything?" Petunia asked curiously.

"He said he thought he was going to die and the only thing he could think was that he'd never see my beautiful face again or tell me he loved me. He said he always had even more than James." Lily replied, blushing.

"Potter clearly doesn't love you, Lily. If he did he would have been over here within minutes of finding out about the attack to make sure you were okay. I suspect he just thinks of you as a convenient trophy he can wave in Severus' face." Petunia studied her sister for a moment. "I must say you don't look pleased by Severus' revelation."

"The problem, Tuney, is that the healers have Sev under a lot of different potions and I can't be sure it was really him talking or the potions. I know once he off them he either won't remember what he said or won't admit it if he does remember. He'll go back to being distant and snarky with me."

I think almost dying changes people in a lot of ways. I think you probably see things differently and you might find Severus willing to be more open with you. What about Potter?"

I don't love him; I don't think I ever did. I was just so devastated after Sev called me that awful name and then James started being nice and I agreed to go out with him on condition that he left Sev alone, but I found out today he lied. He, Sirius, and Peter kept on bullying Sev and other people and I never saw it."

"Well, I expect they were very careful not to do it when you were around," Petunia pointed out. "So as far I can see you've no reason to blame yourself. What are you going to do about Potter?"

"Give him back his ring and tell him it's over and tell him why."

"Good for you. Mum and Dad will be happy to have that git out of our lives," Petunia said getting up off the bed.

"Tuney?"

Petunia turned as she was opening the door. "What?"

"Thanks for listening."

"You're welcome."

Tuesdays and Thursdays were Lily's late class day. Her last class ended at five o'clock. She stopped at the hospital to drop off the lecture notes and assignments and check on Severus, but he was sleeping. She was disappointed, but Healer Dordt did warn them he would be sleeping a lot more.

Wednesday Lily only had three classes all in the morning and she got home to find her mum ready to go to Sev's house to clean even though it really didn't need it, but Lily knew it was Iris's way of working off her worry about Sev.

"Do you want to come with me, Lily?" Iris asked.

"Yes, actually I will. Let me get changed." Lily was back down in a few minutes, carrying her book bag. "I wanted to look in Sev's library and find something extra for this essay I'm writing. I'll bet Sev has potion books even the library doesn't have. I remember him telling me his mum had a lot of potion books and I'll bet I can find more information in those."

Lily was amazed by all the books Severus had. His study was crammed with so many bookcases; it looked as if he'd had to magically expand the room to fit them all. The essay he had written for Professor Ravencroft still sat on his desk. She placed it in the top drawer of his desk out of harm's way and laid her essay on the desk. She got up and began searching the bookshelves. She found a few older books that had interesting facts she could add to her essay. She looked at the inside of the book covers and saw the name _**Eileen Prince **_written in an elegant script. She'd only seen Sev's mum a time or two and could barely remember her, but she did remember Sev talking about his mum winning prizes for her potion abilities. She sat back down at Sev's desk and began working on her essay.

"Lily," Iris called up the stairs. "I've made lunch for us."

"Okay, Mum. I'll be right there."

As she walked into the kitchen, Iris was setting down two plates with sandwiches and vegetables. "These vegetables will only stay fresh for so long even in the most modern of refrigerators." Iris said. "So it's best to eat them while they're still fresh."

"I wonder how long Sev will be at St. Mungo's," Lily said.

"I expect they'll keep him there until they're absolutely sure he won't start bleeding again."

The sound of the floo interrupted their conversation. Lily put her finger to her lip and pulled out her wand. She was eternally grateful Severus had talked her into buying a wand holster for her forearm before their fourth year so she always able to carry her wand with her.

"Mr. Arthur Weasley is requesting to come through." The floo announced.

"I don't think Sev knows Arthur," Lily said and then said. "Allow him to come through."

Arthur stepped out of the floo and found himself with the business end of Lily's wand pressed to his chest. "What did I tell Molly at the last meeting?"

"That you were starting to doubt that James was the right man for you," Arthur replied.

Lily dropped her wand. "Sorry, Arthur, but I had to be sure."

"No apologies necessary, Lily. In these times it's better to be safe than sorry."

"I didn't realize you knew Sev."

"We're taking the same warding class at the Ministry and he's been to the Burrow for dinner. The boys are driving Molly and me to distraction for news about Severus' condition so I thought I stop over here on the off chance somebody might be here and could tell me."

"Arthur, this is my mum, Iris," Lily said introducing her mum to him. "Mum, this Arthur Weasley. He and his wife, Molly are members of the Order and Arthur works at the Ministry."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Arthur. How many boys do you have?"

"We have five boys, eight through five months."

"We were just going to have lunch. Why don't you join us."

"I'd be happy too, Iris and thank you for inviting me."

Iris quickly fixed another plate for Arthur and set it down in front of him. She poured tea all around.

"You can tell the boys that Sev doing better, but his healers say it's going to take time and he's going to tire easily because it takes a lot of magic to heal a curse wound. He captured Malfoy, but Mulciber hit him with a cutting curse, but he was still able to duel with him until Kingsley and Moody arrived," Lily said.

"Does anybody know why You-Know-Who targeted Severus?"

"I know he wanted Severus to join him because of his brilliance at Potions and Sev refused, but Kingsley said Sev said something about them attacking him because he offered himself as a spy to Dumbledore against You-Know-Who."

"Actually, it was the other way around. Albus wanted Severus to spy for him, but he refused. James and Albus were very nasty about the whole thing. What I don't understand is how You-Know-Who got the wrong information. Anything discussed at the Inner Council is supposed to be kept secret."

"My guess is James told Sirius since he tells him everything. I know they hang out at the Leaky Cauldron between classes and it's a well known fact that You-Know-Who's spies hang out there too."

"Are you saying James and Sirius did this deliberately knowing Severus could be badly injured or even killed?"

"Arthur, they've hated Sev from the first time they saw him especially after he said he wanted to be sorted into Slytherin. They bullied him and made his life hell for most of Hogwarts. I can see both of them deciding to put out the story, but with a different twist," Lily replied vehemently.

Lily, I don't want Potter or Black in my house ever again or else I may go after them with my caste iron skillet," Iris warned.

"You'll have to stand in line, Mum," Lily replied. "James is getting his ring back as soon as possible and I never want to see either of those gits again or they'll both be sporting donkey ears and a tail!" Lily threatened

Arthur sighed. "Alastor, Edgar and I argued with Albus against putting James on the Inner Council; we believe he's much too immature for that kind of authority. Our opinions didn't make any difference though and of course Elphias always agrees with Albus."

After Arthur had left, Lily returned to working on her essay. She finished it and read it over, pleased that it was O quality work with help from Eileen Snape's books.

"As soon as we know when Sev is coming home I'll go grocery shopping for him," Iris remarked. "Maybe I should make some meals ahead and freeze them as he'll probably be unable to cook for awhile."

"That's a good idea, Mum and I'm sure Sev will appreciate it."

Lily flooed back to the college and picked up Severus' class notes and assignments for that day and then flooed to St. Mungo's. She put the roll in the next cubbyhole and turned to find Severus awake and watching her. He appeared to be more cogent.

"I've been bringing your professors lecture notes and assignments for you and I've got them arranged according to dates. I also brought your text books in case you wanted to start on them."

"Thanks …" He noticed immediately that Lily was no longer wearing Potter's ring. It was hard to miss that boulder. "Maybe you could get me Monday's stuff. I guess I could try and read the lecture notes."

Lily retrieved them from the cubbyhole and gave them to Severus. "Now don't tire yourself. Your professor's are all aware that you suffered a serious injury and you won't be back up to speed for awhile. Arthur stopped by your house today while Mum and I were cleaning it. He said the boys were driving him and Molly to distraction wanting to know how you were."

Severus smiled. "They're a really nice family and the kids are really smart too." His expression sobered again. "Did the other Death Eater get away?"

"No. Kingsley stunned him and Moody cast an _Incarcerous_ spell. He turned out to be Mulciber, You-Know-Who's right-hand man."

"Who called the Aurors?" Severus asked blankly.

"I did. I woke up because of the flashes of light coming in my window. I thought at first it was lightening outside until I realized the flashes were red."

"He was firing off stunners left and right and they kept bouncing off my wards. Why my neighbors didn't wake up and come outside I'll never know, but I'm glad they didn't. Maybe, they thought it was fireworks or something," Severus said frowning. "Mulciber said Voldemort wanted to kill me because I offered myself as a spy to Dumbledore against him, but he had it wrong. Dumbledore asked me to spy for him."

Lily thought it better not to tell Sev her suspicions about James' and Sirius' part in it. That would only make him angry and he'd end up ripping open his wound and start bleeding again. "I don't know, Sev. Kingsley said Mulciber wasn't talking and Malfoy was claiming to be under the _Imperious Curse_."

"He would," Severus snorted then grimaced as a pain shot through his side. "If nothing else, Lucius is the ultimate survivor."

Lily pulled up a chair to Severus' bedside and sat down. "Sev, can I ask you a question and will you answer it honestly without getting mad."

"I'll try," Severus answered.

"Did James keep on hexing you after fifth year? April told me he did."

Severus frowned wondering how he should answer Lily's question. If he said yes, she'd probably jump on him, wanting to know what he'd done to the Marauders to incur their wrath, but if he said no then he'd make April out to be a liar. "Yes, but by that time I had perfected a really strong shield charm so there wasn't much they could do to me without the possibility of it bouncing off my shield and back at them."

"I'm so sorry, Sev!" Lily said, her eyes filling with tears. "I really didn't know they were still doing that …or maybe, I didn't want to know because it would have spoiled the perfect life I thought I wanted. You were right about me. I _was_ a selfish, spoiled, snobby bitch those last two years."

Severus cleared his throat. "I think it's almost impossible not to be influenced by your housemates' beliefs and opinions when you have to eat, sleep and attend classes with them, when you're not encouraged to make friends outside of your houses, and nobody dares sit at another house table or visit their common room even though there's no actual rule against it. I think both of us fell into the same stupid trap." He frowned. "Frankly, I've always thought that Dumbledore is the best recruiter Voldemort has at Hogwarts."

"Sev, I just want my best friend back," Lily said her voice choked with tears.

"Me too, Lily," Severus replied opening his arms to her. She went to him and he enfolded her in a warm and reassuring hug.

**A/N: **After two years of not speaking and Lily getting engaged to Sev's worst enemy, I don't think it's logical for them to suddenly become romantically involved. I think it's more realistic to have them start off being friends again and possibly work up to a more intense relationship.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 7**

Lily returned from St. Mungo's tired but happy that she and Sev were friends again. She knew he still didn't trust her fully and she would have to work hard to regain his entire trust, but she was willing to do whatever it took. She recalled what Tuney had said about how almost dying changes your perspective on things. Well, almost losing Sev had certainly given her a new point of view and she didn't like what she saw. It was so obvious now that those two toerags, Potter and Black had set Sev up fifth year with the intention of breaking up their friendship once and for all and she had fallen right into their stupid trap.

"Lily, is that you?" Iris called.

"Yes, Mum," Lily said walking into the kitchen. She saw that her family had already started dinner. "I guess I stayed at the hospital later than I thought."

"How's Sev?" Richard asked.

"He doing a lot better I think, Dad. He was awake and was reading some of the lecture notes I'd brought him when I left."

"Does he know when the doctors will dismiss him?" Iris asked.

"No, Mum. I think they probably want to wait until their absolutely sure he won't start bleeding again."

"How is he going to get back home since I doubt he'll be able to travel in any of the ways he normally does." Richard remarked. "I could pick him up and you could put that spell on the car that you used to use when we used to drive you and Sev to King's Cross."

"An _Enlarging_ spell," Lily agreed. "I can enlarge the backseat so he can lay down for the drive home."

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted when Dumbledore's Phoenix Patronus suddenly flew into the room. "Meeting of the Order tomorrow night at six-thirty," it announced in Dumbledore's voice.

"Why does he always schedule these bloody meetings for the days when I have classes until six o'clock? I've told the idiot I have late classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights, but does he ever listen," Lily complained.

"Why don't you just skip it?" Iris asked. "After what he did to Sev he deserves a kick in the family jewels!"

"I suspect Potter and Black were the ones that spread the lies around that Sev offered himself to Dumbledore as a spy against You-Know-Who because James is part of the Inner Council and Dumbledore would have told them about it. I'll attend so I can give Potter back his ring and I'm in the mood to give Dumbledore that kick in the family jewels!"

"Go for it, Lily!" Petunia urged.

The next evening Lily apparated outside of the Hogwarts gates. Hagrid was waiting to let her in and securely locked the gate again after she walked through them. "Evenin' Lily. We're meetin' in the usual place."

"Thank you, Hagrid," Lily replied. She walked up the staircase to the seventh floor with Hagrid lumbering up behind her. When she got to the blank wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, she walked up and down in front of it three times using the phrase Dumbledore had given all the Order members. Double doors appeared and Lily and Hagrid went inside. James jumped up when he saw Lily. "Lily, where have you been? I've been trying to contact you for days."

Lily glared at him and sat down between Kingsley and Arthur. She took out one of her potion textbooks and began to read, ignoring James attempt to get her attention.

The meeting of the Order of the Phoenix is now called to order," Elphias Doge intoned. He was the secretary and took notes on what was discussed or decided.

"Alastor, Kingsley, do you have any news to report?" Dumbledore asked

"The attack on Severus Snape," Moody growled. "Kid was really something. He knows the meaning of constant vigilance. Apparently when he saw the Death Eaters outside his house he disillusioned himself, went outside, stunned and tied up Malfoy, but it revealed his position to Mulciber. He cast stunning spells left and right at the kid and finally hit him with a cutting curse, but the kid kept dueling him until he collapsed, but it distracted Mulciber long enough for Kingsley to stun him and me to cast a binding spell. I told Minister Bagnold that she ought to award him the Order of Merlin, First Class."

James and Sirius both snorted loudly. "If they give that greasy git the Merlin First Class I don't think I want it. Giving it to Snivellus really degrades it for everyone else who really deserves it." Sirius said.

"And what makes you think he doesn't deserve it, Black? I don't recall seeing that either you or Potter there that night so how would you know?" Moody snapped fixing James and Sirius with his magical eye. "I'll be sending a couple of my boys out to keep eyes on things when Severus is dismissed from St. Mungo's."

"What happened to Snape isn't important. Now does anybody else have anything _important_ to report?" Albus asked

"Why is it you so dislike this young man, Albus?" Arthur asked. "Is it because he refused to do your bidding because it would have amounted to suicide?"

I don't have any feelings about him one way or another," Dumbledore replied attempting to be unconcerned, but Lily saw his eyes harden briefly at Arthur's accusation.

"What I want to know is how You-Know-Who got the wrong information and how he knew about anything that goes on in here," Moody said. "In addition to a spy, you've got a leak, Albus and I have a pretty good idea where it might be." He said, fixing his eye on James.

"What are you looking at me for, Alastor? Snivellus probably did it to himself. I heard he was whining to everybody that Albus wouldn't accept his offer," James asked indignantly.

"Except you know very well that wasn't what happened, James," Arthur said. "You were in Albus' office when he revealed his plan about asking Severus to spy for him and you were there when he reported back to us that he had refused to do it." Arthur stood up and looked around at the other members of the Order. "I vote to dismiss James Potter from the Inner Council for leaking information."

"Arthur, only the Inner Council can dismiss another member and I overruled you the last time you tried this," Albus pointed out.

"But it's our lives on the line, Albus if James leaks anything else," Benjy Fenwick said. "I vote with Arthur."

Professor Flitwick stood up. "Mr. Potter, you were a spoiled, arrogant bully all through school who thought you were above everybody else and above the rules and you were unfortunately allowed to get away with behaving like that, but Mr. Fenwick is right. It is _our_ lives you're endangering with your big mouth. I vote with Mr. Weasley."

"I do also," Edgar Bones said raising his hand. "James is obviously too immature to handle confidential information."

"We're having enough trouble with this spy, Albus and can't afford somebody who's deliberately leaking information," Moody pointed out. "I vote with Arthur."

"I vote with Arthur too," Kingsley said. "Alastor's right. We can't afford someone who refuses to keep confidentiality."

Molly stood up and glared at James. "I vote with Arthur. Severus is a very nice and polite young man and our kids happen to think a lot of him and he shouldn't have to deal repeatedly with people who are bent on causing him trouble."

Her twin brothers Fabian and Gideon Prewitt were about to say something, but one glare from Molly silenced them. She knew they were close to James and would vote in his favor.

Frank Longbottom stood up and sneered. "You always were a turd, Potter and I can't for the life of me figure out why the hell Scrimgeour accepted you into the Auror program. I vote with Arthur."

Alice stood up. "If Potter's leaking information, whether it's the correct information or not, could pose a danger to us and our families. I vote with Arthur."

"Now wait a minute …" Mary MacDonald stood up. "All this is because Snivellus got himself hurt and there's no real proof that James leaked anything. I vote against."

Marlene McKinnon. "I agree with Mary. We all know all Slytherins can't be trusted and Snape brought it on himself because he was probably whining to everybody and his dog about what he thought was Albus' unfair treatment. I vote against also."

"That's a lie," Kingsley said quietly. "The only one he told was me and I had to drag it out of him. We weren't overheard by any Death Eaters because Sev cast some sort of silencing spell he'd invented."

"Kingsley, you weren't at Hogwarts the same time as Snape so you don't know what kind of person he is. Hexing and cursing anybody who crossed his path just because he could and if James and Sirius hadn't tried to stop him things would have been a lot worse," Minerva said. "James should stay on the Council because a younger opinion is needed."

"I don't believe you, Minerva. You forget I'm an Auror and I see Mr. Potter and Mr. Black and their actions every day."

Lily got up. "I'm ashamed that I never believed Sev when he kept telling me how prejudiced you and Albus were against Slytherin House. How you let James and Sirius get away with all kinds of crap any other student would have gotten a month's detention for!"

Minerva looked shocked at Lily's accusation, but then said primly, "We all know no Slytherin cannot be trusted. They should all be locked in the dungeon whenever they're not in classes."

"Perhaps there's some sort of listening device planted in his house and that is how You-Know-Who found out," Elphias proposed attempting to create peace amongst the arguing Order members.

"No. The wards on his house are so strong, nobody could have gotten in to plant anything," Moody said. "Even his fireplace is protected by a password phrase only he knows."

James reached over to Lily's open textbook and picked up a note off the page and looked at it. "What do you need to ask Snivellus anything for, Lily? I don't want you around that dirty, slimy snake!"

Lily slammed her book shut almost catching James' fingers and grabbed the note away from him. "Who am I supposed to ask? You still couldn't brew a first year potion competently by our seventh year!"

Remus turned away so James and Sirius wouldn't see him snickering at Lily's remark.

"What the hell crawled up your bra?" James snapped.

"You're an ass, Potter and I must have been crazy when I accepted your proposal. After that Death Eater attack, you never even bothered to check and make sure my family and I were all right!"

"For Merlin's sake I was at a Quidditch match! It was the Wimbourne Wasps versus Puddlemere United and it lasted for three days. I couldn't leave until the Wasps won! Besides I knew it wasn't you when I heard about the attack. I knew it had to be Snivellus."

Lily leaned forward until she was in James' face. "You knew it was Sev because it was you who spread that false rumor around in the Leaky Cauldron, knowing You-Know-Who's spies would hear and You-Know-Who would go after Sev!"

"When you and Black registered your wands at the start of Auror training, they came up as matching two signatures I detected around Severus' house the day after somebody tried to breech his wards early that morning," Kingsley said.

"You're a git, Potter!" Lily took his ring out of her pocket and tossed it at him. "Here! You can have this back because I have no use for it or you!"

James looked at it dumbly. This night was definitely going from bad to worse. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Why don't you give it to Sirius? You spend all of your time with him so you two might as well be engaged!" Lily said shoving her textbook into her book bag and getting up. Before going out the door, she turned and waved her wand at James and Sirius who both screamed when their ears suddenly morphed into donkey ears and donkey tails popped out of their backsides. "There now you look like the jackasses you really are!"

Lily was still furious as she apparated into the park across the street from her home and stalked across the street. She came into the house and dumped her book bag on the chair that sat next to the small table where the telephone rested.

Richard peeked at her from behind the paper. "Your mother has dinner warming for you in the oven."

"Thanks, Dad." She went out into the kitchen where her mother and Petunia were having a cuppa. Lily came in and flopped down in her place at the kitchen table. Iris immediately got up, got her dinner out of the oven and placed it in front of her. "Thanks, Mum."

"What happened at the meeting?" Richard asked sitting down at the table and pouring himself a cup of tea.

"Arthur proposed dismissing Potter from the Inner Council for leaking false information that got Sev hurt. A lot of other members stood with him, too, but I doubt Dumbledore will dismiss him. I did give him back his ring, told him we were through, and gave him and Sirius donkey ears and tails as a parting gift."

"Nothing more than those arrogant asses deserve, Lily!" Petunia exclaimed nodding in approval.

"They did squeal like a couple of scared little girls when I did it," Lily grinned. "They will eventually return to normal, but I figured it wouldn't hurt them to be the butt end of everybody's jokes for a few days."

"Might shrink Potter's head, but I doubt anybody's invented a spell that can do that," Richard said.

The next day when Lily went to the hospital to drop off Severus' lecture notes and assignments, she heard loud laughter coming from his room. She knocked on the door and then pushed it open to find Arthur and Kingsley.

"Ah! The lady of the hour!" Arthur said fondly. "Kingsley and I were just telling Severus about the meeting last night."

"What happened after I left?" Lily asked.

"Most people were laughing and thought it was great. Filius laughed so hard he fell off his chair and then lay on the floor still laughing heartily. Minerva was incensed and tried to reverse it, but couldn't and then Albus tried, but he couldn't reverse it either," Arthur said laughing.

"It will reverse itself after three …maybe four days," Lily replied with a wicked grin.

Kingsley picked up the story. "They showed up for class today, but between the laughter and the mock braying nobody was paying attention to McLachlan. He would get the class settled and they'd be okay for awhile and then somebody would make a braying sound and the whole class would crack up. Black sat down on his tail wrong at one point and then jumped up squealing and course everybody started laughing again. McLachlin finally got fed up and sent Potter and Black home and told them not come back until they were normal again."

"Good one, Lily," Severus said, slapping her palm.

"I thought so, Sev." She turned to Arthur and Kingsley again. "Did Potter get kicked off the Inner Council?"

"Regretfully no," Arthur answered. "Albus refused to do it." He got up to leave. "Would you mind if I brought the boys for a short visit on Saturday? They've been asking Molly and me about you constantly. Molly also wants you to come for dinner when you're allowed to be up and around again. She's been trying out recipes from the cookbook you gave her and all of them have been very good indeed."

Severus nodded. "Sure. I'll be happy to see them. It gets rather boring having to look at the same four walls and please tell Molly I'll look forward to dinner."

"I'll bring them the boys for a short visit tomorrow," Arthur promised. "And I'll let Molly know."

Kingsley excused himself too. "Night patrol with Alastor. I'll see you soon, Sev."

After he left, Lily sat down in one of the vacated chairs. "Dad said when the healers are ready to dismiss you he'll pick you up and take you home. Mum has your freezer full of prepared meals so you won't have to go to a lot of trouble cooking."

"That's good and I appreciate her hard work because I really don't know when I'll get my strength back."

"Don't worry about it. She and dad are more than happy to help you."

"I wish I could have been a fly on the wall at that meeting last night. I would have loved to seen Professor Flitwick laughing so hard he fell off his chair."

"I'm sorry Sev for all the nasty things Potter, Black, Pettigrew, McDonald, McGonagall, and Dumbledore did to you. I wish I could make it up to you somehow. It makes me ashamed to have been a Gryffindor."

"Well, you shouldn't be because there are a lot of good people that came from your house too; Alice, Frank, Molly and Arthur to name some. It's like my house, we had a lot of good people too, but we all got buried under the few bad ones that came from Slytherin."

"I don't know if I would want to send my child, should I ever have one, to Hogwarts as long as Dumbledore and McGonagall are in control," Lily stated. She bowed her head. She knew she had to tell Sev about what Potter's and Black's part in what had happened to him, but she didn't want to risk him getting so angry he ripped his wound open again. "Sev, I need to tell you something, but you have to promise me you'll stay completely calm."

"Okay, what is it?"

Lily took a deep breath. "I just found it out for sure last night at the meeting, but Potter and Black deliberately set you up for the attack by Death Eaters by spreading a lie that you went to Dumbledore and offered to become a double agent; you'd join the Death Eaters and pretend to be loyal to You-Know-Who, but spy on him for the Order."

"What!" Severus yelled, trying to sit up, but Lily held him down. "They've been punished, Sev. That's why I gave them the donkey ears and tails and it sounds like from what Kingsley said that they're finding out what it feels like to be thoroughly humiliated."

"There is _that_ I suppose," Severus grumbled. He didn't put up much of a struggle as he tired easily. "I just don't know why they won't leave me alone. We're out of school and they should just go their own way and let me go mine."

"Because they're stupid, mean gits and always were," Lily said vehemently.

"I suppose I'll have them on my arse for the rest of my life unless their stupidity gets them killed someday." Severus said with a sign. He shifted and tried to get into a more comfortable position. "Boris, Kaemon, Michelle, Colleen, and April came for a visit yesterday. I really miss them and my classes."

Lily felt a twinge of jealousy when he mentioned April, but then she reminded herself that she had no reason to be jealous; she had no claim on Sev. Instead Lily smiled and teased him, "Well, if you're a good boy and follow your healers' directions you'll be back in class in no time."

"If I don't die of boredom first," Severus groused.

"You can spend your time getting caught up on your assignments and your reading," Lily pointed out.

"True. How's school been going for you?"

"Pretty well, actually. Granted, it's a lot harder than any of Slughorn's classes, but I'm learning about things we never even heard about in his class."

"Well, they've recruited the top professors here and students come from all over the magical world to attend college here."

"I know and I was lucky they accepted me considering how I let my grades drop hanging around with Potter and Black."

"Those two arses couldn't find their bums with both hands, a locating spell, a mirror, and ten house elves."

Lily giggled. "They can locate it now since it's got a tail sticking out of it."

The next day Arthur and the three boys visited Severus. Bill and Charlie had given him their books on the Egyptian pyramids and dragons to read while Percy had colored him a picture that he had Arthur stick on the wall for him to look at. Molly had sent along a pumpkin custard because she was certain St. Mungo's wasn't feeding him well enough.

An hour after the Weasley's had left, Richard, Iris, and Petunia visited. Severus shared Molly's pumpkin custard with them.

After almost two weeks, Healers Faircloud and Dordt were allowing Severus to go home. Lily and her dad came to pick him up after her last class that day. The ride home was uneventful and Severus slept the majority of the way home. When Richard pulled up in front of Severus' house he noticed two individuals standing outside. Because they were on duty in a Muggle neighborhood they were not wearing their traditional Auror robes. "Are these guys anybody we have to worry about, Lily?"

"No Dad. They're Aurors. Alastor said he was going to send a couple of his men to keep an eye out for Death Eaters," Lily replied as they helped Severus out of the car.

One of the Aurors stepped forward. "Severus, I don't know if you recall me from Hogwarts. I was a year ahead of you."

"Of course, Frank Longbottom," Severus said. "Alice's fiancé. You were Head Boy my sixth year and stopped the three idiots from hexing me on more than one occasion."

"Correct," Frank said. "Alice talks about you a lot."

"She's a good person and I hope she's doing all right in Auror training."

"She's doing great – much better than a couple of other people I could name. I'll tell her you said hello."

"Thanks," Severus replied. He grimaced slightly. More than anything he wanted to lie down in his own bed.

When they got into the house, Severus was greeted with a hug from Iris. "How are you feeling, Sev?"

"Really tired as if I side-along apparated twenty people right in a row."

"Go upstairs and lay down and I'll bring you up your dinner. I've made a whole pot of your favorite homemade beef noodle soup."

"Thanks Iris," Severus replied and started towards the stairs.

Lily pointed at the stairs and said. "You don't have to climb the stairs, Sev. Just step on the bottom step and the stairs will do the rest."

Severus looked at her with a confused expression.

"I charmed it so it works like a Muggle escalator." Lily explained. "Watch." She stepped on the bottom step and the stairs began moving upwards. She got off it and came back down.

"Richard chuckled. "Lily charmed the garage door to open when I drove into the driveway a few years ago, but our neighbors started wondering how it was happening so I had to have her take the charm off, but it sure was nice in cold weather."

"That's brilliant, Lily." Severus said as he stepped on it and began moving upwards with Richard beside him.

"Don't compliment me yet because I haven't quite figured out how to charm it to work in reverse so you'll probably have to come back down the old-fashioned way until I do. It wants to do the same thing the staircase leading up to the girl's dorm did in Gryffindor Tower. If any boys tried to come up, it turns into a slide. Did the Slytherin dorms have anything like that?"

"We had an ear-splitting siren if any guys went into the girl's dorm area." He snickered. "I recall Lucius trying to sneak in to see Narcissa my first year and setting it off. Got everybody awake and out into the hallways. I remember Slughorn yelling at him and telling him he was supposed to be setting an example, but not _that_ kind." Severus sighed. "I know you don't agree with me, but Lucius really wasn't really that bad of a person. I think he just didn't have the spine to stand up to Abraxas who was actually You-Know-Who's mentor at one time and is probably his biggest fan."

"Well, now I'll bet he wishes he had," Lily replied.

Richard helped Severus get undressed and into bed. Lily stacked his textbooks, lecture notes and assignments within his reach and lined up all the potions he had to take in the order he was supposed to take them and put the picture Percy had colored for him up on the wall. She stepped back and studied the picture. "He colors well for a two-year old and stays within the lines."

All three boys are quite intelligent I think," Severus said. "The twins were mainly interested in throwing their food at each other when I was over there for dinner."

"Well, they're only six months old, Sev. You can't expect them to be reading a first year potion book. Although Molly does say they remind her of Fabian and Gideon."

"Merlin forbade!" Severus said with a roll of his eyes.

Iris came in carrying a tray with a steaming bowl of soup, a green salad, and freshly baked bread, setting it down in front of Severus. "I can tell just by looking at you the food at your hospital is no better than the food at our hospitals."

"It wasn't bad, but certainly nothing compared to home cooking," Severus replied.

"I made plenty so we can have some and visit with you for awhile," Iris replied. "I also had the two young men outside come in and have some dinner. It's far too chilly to be standing out there without a hot meal. They told me their names were Ned Crockford and Frank Longbottom."

"Yes, they're probably going to be there until Alastor sure the Death Eaters won't come back," Lily said. "I'll go down and get the soup, Mum," She volunteered when she saw Iris was going to go back downstairs. She went down to the kitchen and filled three bowls with soup from the pot on the stove and cut some bread, buttered it, and put it on a plate. She transfigured another plate into a large tray and put the soup bowls and the plate of bread on it along with spoons and napkins. She carried the tray into the living room, but stopped when the floo sounded. She saw Arthur's head sitting in the flames. "Lily, I ran into Kingsley and he told me Severus came home today. May I come through?"

"Yes," Lily replied allowing the tray to float in front of her while she pulled her wand out of her holster. Arthur brushed himself off and stepped into the living room and once again found himself with Lily's wand pointed at him. "What did you tell me about Potter and the Inner Council?"

"That Edgar, Alastor, and I objected to him being put on it, but Albus overruled us."

Lily withdrew her wand and tucked it back up her sleeve. "Sev's upstairs with my parents. Have you eaten?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Lily." Arthur carried two loaves of bread. "Molly made a batch of pumpkin bread this morning and told me to bring Severus a couple of loaves."

Arthur followed her upstairs and into the room. She took three Knuts out of her pocket and transfigured them into comfortable chairs for her mum, Arthur, and herself. Richard sat in Severus' recliner. She set two of the soup bowls and the bread plate on the table by the recliner and took a couple of slices of bread off it for herself.

"I was so happy to hear that you've been released from St. Mungo's, Sev," Arthur said.

"Yes, but I'm confined here for another two weeks before I can get back to school, but at least I'm still alive."

"Arthur, these are my parents, Richard and Iris Evans," Lily said. "Mum, Dad, this is Arthur Weasley."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mr. Evans," Arthur said nodding.

"It's Richard and Iris, Mr. Weasley," Richard said.

"And you can me Arthur." He looked around the room. "You live in a Muggle house, Severus. I can see you have ekeltricity."

"My father was a Muggle."

"By the way, Sev I have your fathers medals still. I was able to find out what each of the medals was awarded to him for and I wrote it down so you can refer to it in the future," Richard said.

"Thank you I appreciate you doing that for me."

"Lily's mentioned that you work at the Ministry of Magic, Arthur," Iris said.

"Yes, I work in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. Many times a witch or wizard gets hold of a Muggle article such as a toaster for instance and illegally charms it so it can make more toast faster. It becomes a problem when they pass and the toaster gets back into Muggle hands and it goes crazy when the Muggles try to us it as they normally would. It ends up with the Obliviators having to visit the Muggles and a fair amount of paperwork. The object lands in my office and Perkins and I have to try and figure out what charm was used on it and remove it."

"Does that happen very often?" Richard asked.

"It happens more often than the Ministry would like to see it." He got up. "I almost forgot, Severus. Molly made you a couple of loaves of pumpkin bread." He sat down again. "The boys went a little wild with the pumpkin seeds this spring and we have more pumpkins than we know what to do with."

"Why don't you set up a roadside stand and sell them. The Christmas season is coming up and pumpkin dishes are very popular. I'll bet you could sell off all your extra pumpkins in no time especially if you offer them at a good price. We Muggles can't resist a good deal," Richard suggested.

"An excellent idea," Arthur said. "Perhaps you can help us with it?"

"I'd be happy to if you can get me to wherever it is you live."

We live outside the town of Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon. We can floo to my house or I can side-along apparate you."

"Having experienced both I think I prefer to floo," Richard replied.

"How about this Saturday?" Arthur asked

"I don't have any plans for this Saturday so that will work fine. You'll need to exchange some of your money for Muggle money because you're probably going to need to give change since its rare people will have the exact price."

Arthur nodded. "I'll do it first thing tomorrow. This is going to be a fun experience!" He declared. He looked at the clock on Severus' bedside table. "Well, I'd better be getting back so I can help Molly get the children to bed."

"Arthur has five boys and they range in ages from eight to seven months," Iris said to Richard.

"Bill's my oldest and he's eight. Charlie's my second oldest and he's six. Percy's next and he's two and the twins, Fred and George are seven months."

"You and your wife must have your hands full, Arthur," Richard said.

"That we do, Richard."

"Perhaps you can bring the boys over some time," Iris suggested.

"I think they would enjoy coming over and I do want them to learn about Muggles."

"Well, let me know when you'd like to bring them over and I'll be happy to meet them."

After Arthur had left, Lily and her parents decided to go home too. "Petunia is out with Vernon and I don't want her coming home to an empty house although I know Vernon would stay with her until we got back," Iris said.

"If you need anything, Sev just send your Patronus over," Lily said.

Severus nodded. "Thanks for everything."

"No problem, Sev just rest and don't worry about anything," Richard said.

They had just stepped out of the floo and into their living room when they heard Petunia's key in the lock. She came in and looked at Lily and her parents. "Did you get Severus home from the hospital without any problems?"

"Yes, we got him settled and I told him to send his Patronus if he needs anything," Lily answered.

They suddenly heard a faint crack indicating that someone had apparated into the park across the street and then there was a knock on their door.

"I hope it isn't that idiot Potter," Lily said with a scowl. "Don't open the door without checking, Mum," She took out her wand.

Iris looked out the peephole and then sighed, "Its Professor Dumbledore, Lily."

"I can't imagine what he wants," She said sarcastically. "Let him in, Mum."

Dumbledore came in. He looked quite different than he normally did since he was wearing a suit that was probably about 30 years out of date and a mind-boggling burgandy. He stepped into the room to find Lily's wand pointed at his chest. "What did you tell me privately at the beginning of my fifth year?"

"That you shouldn't associate with a Slytherin and should only associate with your housemates because you can always trust a Gryffindor ."

Lily tucked her wand back up her sleeve. "I don't know why you're here, but I don't see that you have anything to say, Albus," She said standing with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Lily, I've come on behalf of James. He truly loves you and wants you back."

Petunia snorted loudly. "I see. He loves Lily so much that he couldn't be bothered to come himself, but sends you to do his dirty work for him. The only reason Potter wants Lily back is so he can wave her like a trophy in Severus' face."

"You might as well turn around and go back, Albus. I will never forgive Potter for maliciously hurting Sev. Does that jealous git even realize he could have endangered the entire neighborhood while he was getting his petty revenge on Sev?" Lily snapped. "In case you've forgotten Albus, Sev and I are the only magical people in the entire area and while I'm good at defense I doubt I could have fought off ten Death Eaters had You-Know-Who decided to send more than two."

"I think you better leave, Professor," Iris said coldly.

"And you might inform Mr. Potter that I've kept my service revolver in good working order and his bum might discover that personally should he decide to show it here," Richard added.

"I think you're all making a big mistake. Severus Snape is evil and has always been. I knew it the moment he was sorted into Slytherin. He was bitter, angry, and hateful towards the other students and he's always been jealous of James and Sirius because they have the life he's always wanted."

It was on the tip of Iris' tongue to tell Dumbledore that Sev was now wealthier than Potter and Black put together, but since Sev had sworn her to secrecy she remained silent."

"Mr. Dumbledore, I suggest you leave immediately or I may kick you in the family jewels," Petunia said.

Dumbledore paled at that.

"That's my job, Tuney," Lily argued as if Dumbledore wasn't even present.

"We could both do it," Petunia offered as a compromise.

"Okay, but I get to go first though." Lily said.

"Sounds fair," Petunia agreed

"And when my daughters are finished with your family jewels, _your_ bum may discover my service revolver is still in good working order," Richard added.

Dumbledore eyes were hard blue chips. "Do not say I did not try to warn you when the worst happens because Snape is evil to the core and it will not be long before he reveals his true colors." He left and they heard the crack of his disapparition.

"What a farty old windbag!" Petunia exclaimed indignantly and everyone started laughing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 8**

Severus received the Order of Merlin, First Class a week after he'd gotten out of St. Mungo's. Minister Bagnold had agreed to award it privately and even agreed to hold the ceremony at Severus' house since he was not yet allowed to leave it. He was dressed in a formal black robe of expensive wool, a white oxford shirt, one of his Slytherin ties, black slacks and highly shined dress loafers.

Richard, dressed in his best suit, Iris and Petunia in dresses and hats they normally wore to church, Vernon in an expensive suit, and Lily in lavender dress robe were waiting with Arthur, Molly and their five children, and Severus. He had invited Boris, Kaemon, Colleen, Michelle, and April to attend the ceremony also and they stood nearby him.

Minister Millicent Bagnold, followed by Rufus Scrimgeour, Alastor Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped out of the Floo. Ned Crockford and Frank Longbottom also came inside the house to make sure no Death Eaters tried to harm the Minister. The Aurors were attired in their regulation red and blue robes. Minister Bagnold carried a flat squared box of blue leather with her.

Severus hoped it would be a short ceremony as he still tired easily. He really didn't know why anybody thought he deserved the Order of Merlin anyway. All he'd really done was fight off a couple of Death Eaters who were trying to take him to Voldemort to be executed. He did fight them because he didn't want them attacking the Evans house as he was sure they knew about Lily as they were the only two magical people in the area.

Minister Bagnold smiled and nodded at Arthur, Molly and their boys and then turned to the matter at hand. "Severus Snape, I am honored to award you the Order of Merlin, First Class for bravery beyond the call of duty and the prevention of other possible Muggle killings." She took the gold medal on its pale blue ribbon out of its box. Severus bent so she could put it over his head and shook his hand. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Minister for this great honor."

Rufus Scrimgeour shook his hand next. "It's good to see somebody of my former house doing something good for a change. I'm hoping future generations of Slytherins will take note and realize they don't have a predestined path."

"Thank you, Sir. We don't have a predestined path, but we're forced into believing we do with Dumbledore as headmaster."

Scrimgeour frowned. "I confess I never liked the man. He was the Transfiguration professor when I was at Hogwarts and he made it obvious what he thought about Slytherin House. This was not too many years after You-Know-Who graduated."

"It's always been my belief that Dumbledore was You-Know-Who's best recruiter at Hogwarts. I'm sure, in my class at least, he pushed a lot of the people who were sitting on the fence right into You-Know-Who's arms with his treatment of the Slytherins."

"Yes and I've noticed Dumbledore's strong influence in this year's Auror class. People who think they don't have to obey the same rules everyone else does. People who can't wait until they can use the Unforgivables. Loose cannons - dangerous to themselves and everybody around them."

Severus didn't need to guess who the loose cannons he was referring to were.

After everybody had left, the Evans stayed long enough to make sure Severus had dinner and was tucked comfortably back in bed.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

The library at Potter Manor was furnished with deep, soft couches in front of a huge fireplace with a roaring fire that warmed the room. A long coffee table sat between the couches and currently it was spread with a sliced roasted chicken, chocolate cake, apple and cherry pies, a big bowl of crisps and a bowl of fruit. The bookcases were filled with books that looked as if they had never been taken down from the shelves. Two squashy red armchairs sat between the couches at the end of the coffee table.

James lay stretched out on one of the couches reading the _**Prophet **_while Sirius was slouched down in one of the squashy armchairs with his legs hanging over the arm and Remus and Peter were sitting on the opposite couch. Remus was busy grading homework.

James had spotted the small notice under the column entitled; **_Ministry Affairs_ **about Minister Bagnold awarding Severus the Order of Merlin, First Class. James threw down the paper in disgust. "Can you believe it? The Minister actually caved and awarded Snivellus the Order of Merlin, First Class! He doesn't even deserve Third Class!"

"Yeah, Prongs I wouldn't accept it now if they offered it to me. Having Snivellus winning it really demeans it for the rest of us who actually deserve it. It's too bad you're dad isn't still alive. He could tell the Minister a few stories about Snivvy at Hogwarts and I'll bet she'd retract that medal real fast."

"Yeah what a bully he was and how he hexed and cursed people just because he could. If we hadn't been there to stop him, Merlin only knows what he would have done!" James said.

Remus sighed and said, "James, you've told that lie so often you're starting to believe it. You know very well Snape never did any of those things and he never attacked you, Sirius or Peter unless you three had him cornered and he had no other choice. It seems to me he went out of his way to avoid any confrontations."

"Well, the git would have done it if we hadn't been there to curb his tendencies," James claimed. "I still can't believe Lily dumped me for that slimy snake."

"Speaking of Evans," Sirius growled. "If I ever see her again she's going to wish I hadn't! I wrecked several pairs of expensive pants because of her!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "That's what _Reparo_ is for, Sirius."

"Doesn't matter, Moony! Prongs and I had to go through almost a week of being unfairly humiliated because of that bitch!"

"I can't say I have any sympathy for you," Remus replied. "You know Lily has a temper and you set it off and had to suffer the consequence so you've got nobody but yourselves to blame."

"You weren't being brayed at nor had people pulling your tail either, Mooney," James pouted. "But despite what Lily did I'm willing to take her back and she'll come crawling back to me eventually because she knows I'm the best and Snivellus can't touch me!"

"Modest as ever, James," Remus murmured.

"Well, when she does come crawling back, Prongs I'd kick her in the face and give her a few days to absorb that and then I'd lay down some rules."

"What kind of rules, Padfoot?"

"For one, whatever you say goes. Your word is law."

"How positively medieval of you, Sirius," Remus muttered as Peter looked at him in surprise

James smiled. "I like these rules. What else?"

"She doesn't need a career and her first duty is to you as your wife. Rule number three and the most important one; she can't associate with Snivellus in any way, shape or form."

"I agree," James said. "I should have laid the law down to her after we got engaged."

"What do you think about Padfoot's suggestions, Moony?" Peter asked.

"I think if James and Sirius fancy having permanent donkey ears and tails then by all means try and lay down the law to Lily."

"I still can't believe they gave the Merlin First Class to Snivellus," James complained. "Remember how he used to skulk around the school looking for a chance to hex or curse somebody and when we'd confront him he'd run like the yellow-bellied coward he is?"

Sirius grinned. "Yeah! Remember fifth year when we tricked him into going down the tunnel under the Whomping Willow because the nosy git was always following us around and trying to get us into trouble?"

"Yeah!" Peter chortled. "I thought Snivvy was gonna crap his pants when you dragged him out of there, Prongs!"

"Or even worse, sick up all over me!" James laughed. "But fortunately he took off into the Forbidden Forrest."

"I was hoping something in there would have old Snivellus for a snack, but it seems even those creatures didn't want him!" Sirius joked.

Remus put down the paper he'd been grading and looked at James, Sirius, and Pete. "Wait a minute! You three sent Snape down the tunnel under the Whomping Willow while I was fully transformed?"

"Yeah, we wanted to teach him a lesson about following us and trying to get us in trouble and it worked! The slimy git didn't bother us for the rest of school!" Sirius said.

Remus began to shove his papers in his brief case and got up. "You three are unbelievable!" He snapped angrily grabbing his coat. "I don't suppose any of you idiots gave any thought to what would happen to Snape and me if I'd bitten or Merlin forbade, killed him?"

"No worries, Moony!" Sirius drawled. "We had your back and so did Albus. If you ripped Snivellus to pieces the only thing we'd had to worry about was you getting sick from eating Snivellus."

"Nobody would have missed him, Remus. I heard even his parents wouldn't have noticed if he didn't come home again," James assured him. "Albus would have erased all trace of him easily enough because he thought Snivellus was a waste of space too."

Remus gave them a final disgusted look and stormed out of the room and then they heard the crack of his disapparition.

"What the hell's got his tail in a twist?" Sirius asked.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus and Lily were sitting on the couch in Severus' living room studying. There was a fire in the fireplace, a pot of tea and a plate of Iris' Christmas cookies sat on the coffee table.

"I never realized so many things could affect brewing and alter the quality or quantity of a potion," Lily remarked. She was taking the course he had taken the past summer, _The Theory of Brewing_.

"Sure, like potions are always going to be stronger with fresh ingredients rather than dried or some potions can only be brewed at certain times of year because an ingredients have to be fresh and some of them might not grow at that time of year," Severus added.

"Like your Frost Fire plant that only grows during the winter. You never would show me where that was, Sev," she teased.

"Because it was in the Forbidden Forest and since we weren't supposed to be in there I thought it better if only I got into trouble if I got caught. I did manage to dig up several bulbs before I left and I've transplanted them and hopefully they'll grow well or I'll need to find another source as I can't be caught skulking around the Forbidden Forrest." He briefly wondered if he could transplant them around his manor in Scotland.

A sudden knock at the front door had Severus and Lily pulling out their wands. Severus flicked on the porch light and looked out the peephole. "It's Lupin."

"Remus?" Lily asked. "I hope Potter didn't send him." She had told him about Dumbledore's visit and he had laughed when she'd told him about Petunia's and her discussion about who should be the one to kick him in the family jewels.

"I'm assuming Ned and Frank have vetted him already, but nonetheless …" He pulled out his wand before opening the door.

Remus didn't look startled to find Severus' wand pointing at him. "Err …hello Severus, I wonder if I could speak with you?"

"Come in," Severus said stepping aside.

Remus stepped in and found himself with Lily's wand pointed at his chest. "What happened at the last meeting of the Order?"

"Arthur proposed throwing James off the Inner Council for a breach of confidentiality and you gave James and Sirius donkey ears and tails."

"It's Remus," Lily confirmed stowing her wand back up her sleeve. "If Potter sent you here to plead his case then you may as well turn around and leave."

"James? No …no, I came to apologize to Severus," Remus replied.

Severus waved his wand at his recliner which slid over to the coffee table. "Sit down."

"Would you like some tea, Remus," Lily asked.

"That would be great, Lily as its rather nasty outside."

Severus sat back watching him warily as Lily poured him a cup of tea. "The cookies are fresh. My mum just made them this morning."

Remus took a sip of the hot tea and fiddled with the handle of his cup. "Severus, I wanted to apologize for what happened fifth year. I honestly didn't know James, Sirius, and Peter had done such a horrible thing …"

"Did what?" Lily interrupted.

Severus and Remus looked at each other and then Remus sighed and replied, "Fifth year James, Sirius and Peter deliberately tricked Severus into going down the tunnel under the Whomping Willow to encounter me as a fully transformed werewolf …"

"What!" Lily exclaimed. She looked from Severus to Remus back to Severus. "Why didn't you ever tell me? That's why you became so withdrawn then. James told me it was because …"

"I was preparing to join You-Know-Who so I and no longer cared about you or what might happen to you," Severus finished for her.

Lily blushed and looked uncomfortable. The more she found out about the things Potter had done and the uncountable number of lies he'd told her the more humiliated she felt to have accepted his proposal of marriage. What in Merlin's beard had she ever been thinking?

"I couldn't tell you because Dumbledore made me swear that I wouldn't reveal what I had seen or face expulsion if I did," Severus replied bitterly. "He gave Potter fifty house points for supposedly saving me and told me I owed him a life debt. I don't owe that rotten bastard a bloody thing!"

"I swear I had no idea they were planning to do it," Remus said earnestly. "You see when I transform I have no memory of what occurred during my transformation. I've always relied on the others to tell me what went on. The only reason I found about it tonight is because James and Sirius are angry and jealous about you receiving the Order of Merlin and they let it slip. In addition there's other things I want to apologize for too."

"Such as?" Severus asked.

"I helped James and Sirius create the Marauder's Map that they always used to find you and hex you. When we created it fourth year; it was just going to be so they could explore the school after hours without getting caught. I should have reported them to McGonagall and had her confiscate it when I found out what they were doing with it besides exploring Hogwarts after hours."

"Why didn't you?" Lily demanded.

"It's okay, Lily," Severus said. "McGonagall wouldn't have taken it away from them anyway. In fact, she probably would have given them extra house points for creativity."

"I also want to apologize for all those times I sat around with my nose in a book ignoring things when I was a Prefect while James, Sirius, and Peter bullied you, hexed and jinxed you." Remus looked thoroughly ashamed and downcast as he admitted this. "I was a bloody coward!"

Severus felt some of the resentment and anger he carried for two years melting. After all, Remus had never participated in the Marauders varied humiliating bullying. It was also true that he never tried to stop them even as a Prefect, but given the secret he was carrying maybe he feared they'd turn on him and reveal it if he didn't go along with their bullying. Hadn't he always thought that under different conditions he and Remus might have been good friends? Well, now different conditions were presenting themselves.

"They weren't above using my condition for what they felt was their own advantage," Remus said sadly. "I guess they were never who I thought they were and I really never had any friends."

Severus cleared his throat and said awkwardly, "You have Lily …and me."

Remus looked up, a grateful smile lighting up his face. "Really?"

Severus shrugged to cover his embarrassment. "Well, I've always thought under different circumstances we probably would have been good friends. I even thought about approaching you more than once, but you were always with the other three so I didn't."

"It means a lot to me to have you and Lily as my friends, Severus."

"I never stopped being your friend, Remus," Lily said. "Potter, Black, and Pettigrew are jerks and none of them has or will ever grow up."

Remus got up. "You'd best stay clear of Sirius, Lily. He's still very angry over the donkey ears and tail you gave him."

"I 'm not afraid of that git!" Lily declared vehemently.

"Well, Sirius can be a right mean bastard when he's riled and I think Severus can testify to that fact so I'd keep an eye out for him just in case." Before flooing back to Hogwarts, Remus cleared his throat and said, "Thank you for forgiving me and offering me your friendship

"It's no problem, Remus. I should have done it a long time ago."

After Remus had left, Lily turned to Severus and said, "That was a really nice thing you did, Sev."

"Well, I felt sorry for him after what Potter and Black did to him. It's tough to find out that people you always thought you could trust, you can't."

"Well, it was still a very nice especially as a Prefect, even as a seventh year Prefect Remus never tried to stop Potter and Black from bullying people."

"Maybe he was afraid if he did they'd turn on him. Maybe somewhere along the line they gave him the impression if he did try to report them, they'd let it slip he was a werewolf."

"I wonder how Dumbledore would have dealt with his precious Marauders then," Lily said angrily.

"I sure Dumbledore would have found some way to excuse them even if it meant him receiving two hundred Howlers or Remus having to leave Hogwarts," Severus sneered.

Lily settled back on the couch with her book in her lap. "Dumbledore has sent me two Patronus about Order meetings, but I refuse to go to anymore of them."

"The last time I saw Kingsley he said that a lot of the members are angry because Dumbledore won't kick Potter off the Inner Council and they feel he could be endangering their lives with his wagging tongue. They're even thinking about leaving the Order and forming their own defense group. He said they all feel as if Potter's got too much influence and his choices and decisions aren't good."

"If they do I'm joining them!" Lily declared.

"I may consider joining if they're willing to have me."

"Of course they'll want you, Sev," Lily declared. "Who else did Kingsley say was thinking about leaving the Order?"

"Well, him, Moody, Arthur and Molly are definitely leaving. Edgar Bones is thinking about it as is Benjy Fenwick. Professor Flitwick's expressed an interest; Frank and Alice are both definitely interested. They don't know about Remus, but after tonight I think he'll want to join. Kingsley told me they want Arthur to be the new leader."

"So that means Potter, Black, Pettigrew, Gideon and Fabian, Elphias Doge. Dedalus Diggle, MacDonald, McKinnon, McGonagall, and Hagrid are staying with Dumbledore," Lily speculated.

Severus shrugged. "You'd know that better than me."

"What are they thinking about calling this group?"

"Arthur thinks it should be called the 'Marauders.' That would really piss off Potter, Black, and Pettigrew I'm sure," Severus said with a grin.

"Ha!" Lily laughed. "I think it's perfect, Sev!"

"Yeah, I kind of like it myself."

"Dumbledore won't have any Aurors anymore so he's going to be pretty blind."

"From what I've heard from Kingsley, he never listened to their advice anyway. I may talk to Reg about joining. I'm having him over for dinner while he's home over the holidays."

"You've kind of replaced Sirius as an older brother for Reg," Lily remarked.

"Well, I wanted to keep him from becoming a Death Eater and he might have given that when Potter, Black, and Pettigrew weren't bullying me, they were bullying him. He could have easily gone over to them being that Bellatrix is his cousin."

"I know I used to hear Sirius badmouthing him in our common room because he thought Regulus should have asked the Sorting Hat to put him in Gryffindor. He turned on Alice when she pointed out that most eleven year-olds don't know they can ask the Hat to put them somewhere else. Sirius said Regulus didn't want to be anywhere else _but_ Slytherin."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be in Slytherin anyway," Severus said. "Dumbledore seems to think that the Pureblood prejudice some of the Slytherins hold is bad while the prejudice that the Gryffindors come in with against the Slytherins is fine. Prejudice is prejudice. It takes many different forms, but it's all bad."

"That's what I told McGonagall at the last Order meeting. I'm sorry I never recognized what a prejudiced old biddy she was even though you tried to tell me."

"Well, you tried to tell me what arseholes Avery, Mulciber, Wilkes, Rosier, and the Lestrange twins were, but I didn't listen either," Severus said. "Dumbledore is almost as prejudiced against Hufflepuff as he is against Slytherin. He thinks they're a bunch of dummies, rejects, and losers. I'm sure Professor Sprout got short shrift whenever she went in to complain about the Marauders attacking the kids in her house

"In these times they should be making a major effort to bring the students together not keep them apart," Lily stated. "They should get rid of the house tables and let the students sit wherever they want to, have the heads of house schedule visits to their house so all students can have an opportunity to meet all of the houses."

"Yeah and mix up the classes. They should have students from every house in all the classes instead of the asinine arrangement they have now. I mean how many potions accidents over the years have been caused by Slytherins and Gryffindors throwing crap in each other's cauldrons? I'm sure there's many a Hufflepuff who didn't live up to their full academic potential because they felt academically inferior to the Ravenclaws."

"You should be on the Board of Governors, Sev," Lily teased.

"I think I'll need to wait until I get my potion's mastery at least," Severus joked.

"Lily looked up at the clock on the mantle. "I'd better be getting home. I'll see you tomorrow." She gave him a quick hug, picked up her book bag, and flooed home.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

James and Sirius were standing outside the classroom waiting for their instructor to come in. They usually were the last ones in. One of the Auror trainees going into the room made a braying sound when he saw them.

"Shut up, you fuckhead Ashdown!" Sirius snarled shaking his fist at him.

"I'm so scared!" Ashdown sneered back. "Sit on your tail lately and squeal like a little girl, Black? Heehaw!"

Sirius lunged at Ashdown, but James grabbed him before he could. "Never mind him, Padfoot. There's more important things to think about."

"They better not ever put me on patrol with that git or he may not come back in one piece!"

"Come on let's go in and find a seat."

They went in and sat down. James spotted Alice Warwick sitting across the aisle and two desks up. "Psst …Warwick!"

Alice ignored him, but he kept bothering her so she finally turned around. "Quit bugging me, Pothead or I'll give you back the donkey ears and tail permanently and then I'll have Frank kick your stupid arse!" She snapped.

"I just want to know if Lily's seeing anybody," James pouted.

"I don't know and I wouldn't tell you even if I did know! Now shut up and leave me alone, Pothead!"

"What did I ever do to you Warwick?" He whined.

Alice turned around furious at his question. "How many potions of mine and Severus did you and Black deliberately try to ruin just to get back at him for his disagreement with Lily which was none of your business I might add? And how many times to get back at me for volunteering to be his partner in Potions?"

"Because you were a traitor, Warwick volunteering to partner with a slimiest of the Slytherins ever that's why!" Sirius snorted. "And no Slytherin ever insults a Gryffindor girl, even a stupid one, and gets away with it!"

"If you two dickheads hadn't hung Severus upside down and stripped him practically naked in front of the entire school maybe he wouldn't have."

"That was one of our better ones to drill it into Snivellus how worthless he was!" Sirius laughed.

"You two are disgusting!" Alice snapped turning her eyes back to the front of the room as Instructor McLachlan came into the room. "Good morning. Would everybody please take out their copy of _The Ministry of Magic Laws and Legal Proceedings 1600 to Current _and turn to chapter 20?"

"Boring!" James muttered.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Alice flooed from the Ministry of Magic to Leaky Cauldron, stepped out of the Floo, went out into the courtyard and opened up the passageway to Diagon Alley. She walked down to Flourish & Blotts to see Lily who was working at the store. There was the usual glut of Christmas shoppers as she walked in. Lily was helping Mr. Seaman up at the cash registers. Alice waited until the customers had thinned and Lily went back to stocking books

"Hi Lily." She watched as Lily levitated the books to the top shelf and watched as the other books shuffled themselves to make room for the new ones

"Alice!" Lily said giving Alice a hug. "How are you? How are Auror classes going?"

"A lot better if those two gits Potter and Black weren't in them." Alice made a disgusted face.

"I know you don't get to see as much of Frank since he's helping to guard Sev's house, but I do want you to know that my mum's making sure he and Ned are well fed."

"Well, that's good to know at least," Alice replied. "The reason I came is to warn you that Potter was asking me about you today. He wanted to know if you were seeing anyone. I told him I wouldn't tell him even if I knew. He started whining and asking why I didn't like him and then Black started spouting his usual 'you're a traitor if you associate with a Slytherin' rant that we must have heard at least 700 times by graduation."

"I know and I worry that those two aren't through attacking Sev. I know they're furious about him winning the Order of Merlin, First Class."

"I know since we had to listen to them grumble about it all during class. Black kept saying he wouldn't accept it now even if the Ministry begged him to take it because Severus receiving it demeans it somehow. Our instructor finally got fed up and remarked that he didn't think Black was ever going to have to worry about it," Alice chuckled.

Lily smiled and then frowned. "I hope they both stay away from me. It's a good thing I took this job after I broke up with Potter. If he knew I was working here he'd be in here bothering me, but then again I really don't have to worry since he's never read a book voluntarily his whole life."

"So you and Sev are friends again? Alice asked.

"We're friends again, but it's going to be awhile before he trusts me enough to be friends like we were before and even longer for anything else."

"Ooh!" Alice said lifting her eyebrows.

"When Sev first woke up he told me he loved me, but they had him on so many different potions that I don't know if it was him or the potion talking. Still, almost losing somebody does open your eyes to what's real and what's not. I realized how much I cared for Sev and suddenly saw what a big phony Potter was! How he and Black did that deliberately to Sev so they could destroy our friendship and I let them because I was stupid enough to fall into their trap! He never changed; he's the same arrogant, lying, spoiled toerag he always was!"

"Amen!" Alice exclaimed. "I think we should go out and celebrate your reawakening."

"I'll meet you at five," Lily promised.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**A/N:** Thanks to Snapegirlkmf for the idea of the boots constantly kicking Potter's and Black's asses! Apologies for any typos I might have missed as I was laughing so hard when I wrote that scene I could hardly type!

**Chapter 9**

The first meeting of Dumbledore's Renegades as Kingsley jokingly referred to the people who had defected from the Order, was held at the Burrow. Most of them arrived at the Burrow by Floo, but some did apparate. Severus and Lily arrived by floo as Severus was not yet allowed to apparate by his healers. Severus had been back in school two weeks, but still had to be careful of his side.

Remus and Filius also used the floo, explaining that they had both gone to extraordinary means to avoid being found out by either Albus or Minerva. They had to sneak down to Hogsmeade so they could use the floo at the Hog's Head. They had nearly run into Hagrid who was coming out of the bar. Filius had confided to Aberforth, Albus' brother and owner of the Hog's Head, about the new group and Aberforth expressed his interest in joining. He was going to come by once he got the bar closed. "You needn't worry about Aberforth. He and Albus have never gotten along and he really dislikes his brother's high-handed way of doing things," Filius explained. "That's why he's been so resistant about joining the Order."

Severus remembered the gruff bartender who had chased Potter, Black, and Pettigrew away when they had cornered him in Hogsmeade during their first visit to Hogsmeade third year.

The rest of the interested former members of the Order soon arrived. Benjy Fenwick, Edgar Bones, Moody, Kingsley, and Ned Crockford all chose to apparate in. Frank and Alice both arrived by broom from Godric's Hollow.

One of the first things they decided was to meet at a different location each time rather than the same place. That would make it harder for You-Know-Who or his Death Eaters to find them and they were small enough to be mobile. The second thing they decided was that everybody should swear a Wizard's Oath that they would reveal nothing about either the membership or the agenda.

"I'm not being insulting or anything, but I understand there might have been a spy for Voldemort in the Order. Are we sure he or she isn't in this group?" Severus asked.

"I'm sure because I'm certain the spy was Pettigrew," Moody growled. "I told Dumbledore my suspicions, but he wouldn't believe me. Since Pettigrew's a friend of Potter's and Black's that apparently makes him as pure as the driven snow."

"We should stun, bound, and turn up the little rat over to MLE," Edgar growled. "If he's a spy for You-Know-Who he'll have the mark."

"I'd like to start off by saying that anybody who's interested in fighting You-Know-Who is welcome in this group," Arthur said. "Now next I'd like to think of a title for our group. I thought of Marauders, but unfortunately I think that would alert Albus to us."

"We could call ourselves the Avengers," Benjy suggested.

"Nah," Moody shook his head. "It makes us sound too much like vigilantes and we don't want the Ministry on our arses either."

"I think it would be better if we didn't advertise ourselves at all," Lily suggested. "We should remain completely anonymous. We come, we conquer and we leave the Death Eaters stunned and bound for MLE to find after somebody alerts them anonymously."

"I think that a good idea," Remus said.

"I like it too, Lily," Arthur agreed.

Severus cleared his throat. When everybody was looking at him he said, "Before we do anything I think we all need to get some defense practice under our belts. Remus can help us with that since he probably knows some newer defense tactics. I know a few good hexes that you can use to disable a Death Eater long enough to stun and bind them."

"What would those be, Sev?" Kingsley asked.

"I can demonstrate one of them if you'll oblige me by taking off your shoes and socks."

"Okay," Kingsley said.

Severus pointed his wand at Kingsley's feet and said, "_Prolato Celer_!" Kingsley's toenails begin growing at an astonishing rate. "You _do_ have a counter-hex for this, Sev?" Kingsley asked in a worried tone as he watched his toenail beginning to curl up

Severus grinned and then pointed his wand at Kingsley feet and said, "_Redactum Solitus_."

"That's brilliant, Mr. Snape, but I don't recall ever hearing of it," Edgar said.

"That's because I invented it and I tested it on Potter and Black last year when I saw they were bothering April."

"You did _that_?" Lily asked. "They were confined to the hospital wing for three day and McGonagall was madder than a wet cat because she couldn't find out who was responsible for it."

"Yes, the hex lasts for three days if you don't know the counter-hex. I have another one I invented and a spell my grandfather invented and taught to my mum before she left for Hogwarts. My other one is a whirling hex, but I don't want to demonstrate it on anybody because I don't know what the after-effects might be, but I think it's safe to say it will make you extremely dizzy to the point of passing out even."

Arthur got up transfigured his kitchen chair into a dummy. "Give us a demonstration, Severus."

Severus got up, pointed his wand at the dummy and said, "_Turbo Velox_!" The dummy began spinning wildly, its arms flailing about. Severus pointed his wand at the spinning dummy and said, "_Subsisto_!" The dummy stopped spinning and collapsed in a heap on the floor. He transfigured it back into the kitchen chair and slid it back over to Arthur. "The next one is called the _Comburo Irrito_ spell. I can't ask anybody to volunteer to have it cast on them either because what it does is makes you itch badly and at the same time it makes you feel as if you're being stuck by thousands of tiny needles. The spell is _Comburo Irrito _and the counter spell is _Relevo_."

"There's also _Langlock_ spell that Sev invented; it sticks your tongue temporarily to the roof of your mouth."

"The counter-spell is _Solvo_," Severus added. "Until I'm released by my healers I can't do any strenuous defense, but I can brew the potions that hopefully we'll never need …" his voice trailed off into silence. They all knew of You-Know-Who's treatment of his enemies. "I have recently invented a potion that cures the effects and the damage caused by the _Cruciatus Curse_. They're testing it at St. Mungo's right now and the reports I've been getting from them are encouraging."

"Sev, that's brilliant!" Lily exclaimed excitedly.

"It's good to have a potion prodigy in our midst," Edgar Bones said.

At that moment the Floo sounded and Aberforth Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace. He looked around and then took a seat next to Filius. He looked somewhat like Albus; he was tall, had the same blue eyes, but his hair still had a lot more of its original color whereas Albus' was completely grey.

"Welcome, Aberforth, we're glad you could stop by this evening," Arthur said

"I'd like to say that I'm not the least bit interested in fighting with Albus' Order," Aberforth said. "I've warned the idiot for years to ease back on the Slytherins and quit favoring his own house, but he's just too arrogant to listen. It's no wonder he chose McGonagall to be his deputy. She's the very same as are those gits, Potter and Black! They all so arrogant they think if they jumped off the Astronomy Tower they'd automatically sprout wings and fly the rest of the way down!"

Severus had to grin at Aberforth's words. He obviously had no qualms about calling a spade a spade. "Another thing I think we should all learn is to cast our spells non-verbally. I think Alastor and Kingsley can help us there because for the most part Aurors do their spells that way."

"Yeah, the kid's right," Moody said. "No point in giving your enemies the jump on you!"

Remus chuckled suddenly. "Sorry, I was just remembering James and Sirius reaction when they found out they'd have to cast all their spells non-verbally as Aurors. Merlin! Most of my sixth year students are better at it than those two."

"No surprise there," Aberforth grumped. "Those two always thought rules were made for everybody but them."

The meeting broke up after everybody agreed to the next meeting being after the holidays. Severus offered his home for the next meeting. He felt Lily shouldn't offer her home because there was no sense in putting her parents or sister in any extra danger.

Aberforth offered the upstairs room of the Hog's Head. He admitted his bar attracted a lot of dodgy characters, but there were no Death Eaters among them. His explained his goats could sense the Dark Mark and always let him know immediately if somebody carrying it was trying to enter the bar.

Severus and Lily flooed back to Severus' home. They still needed to do some studying for their last semester exams tomorrow. Severus made some tea and fixed a plate of Iris' cherry scones. They studied until eleven o'clock and then Lily decided to call it a night and go home. She packed her book bag, gave Severus a hug and said, "Don't stay up too late, Sev."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus came home after his final exam to find a Ministry owl waiting for him with fancy scroll of parchment attached to its leg. Severus took the parchment from it and gave it a treat. He unrolled the scroll to find an invitation for himself and a guest to the Ministry's New Year's Eve Ball. He grinned when he saw the invitation was addressed to Severus T. Snape, Order of Merlin First Class. He wondered if Lily would want to go with him as they were friends once again. He decided to go Christmas shopping. Since he now had the Galleons to spend, he found he could really enjoy it without having to worry about running short of money. At Gringotts, he converted some of his Galleons into Muggle money because he knew he would need to go shopping in Muggle London for the Evans. He knew what he was going to buy Iris and Richard, but had absolutely no idea what to buy Petunia. He decided to stop in at Flourish & Blotts and ask for Lily's opinion and also ask her if she would like to attend the Ministry Ball with him.

He bought the Weasley's Christmas gifts first. For Bill he found a pyramid that came apart, but you had to figure out what the password was, by a series of clues built into the pyramid, before it would come apart. Every time he put it back together and wanted to take it apart again, he would need to figure out a new password. Bill was a bright boy and the game would be good training for him besides providing for hours of entertainment. For Charlie who interested in anything to do with Dragons, he bought two tickets to the Dragon Reserve in Wales and included a portkey. He bought two big coloring books and a big box of crayons with 42 different colors for Percy and two stuffed bears for Fred and George; one being a golden brown color and the other one a cinnamon brown. For Molly he bought _The Gourmet Witches Christmas Feast_ and in addition he was going to give her a chest of common household medicinal potions. He knew the Weasley's didn't always have the Galleons to buy the potions they needed. For Arthur, he decided to buy him a used portable television. Bill had confided to him that his dad had a shed full of Muggle stuff that he was trying to enchant so it could be used in the magical world. Severus figured if Arthur could enchant a television set so it would work in a magical household he stood to make a fortune.

Lily was waiting on a customer when he stopped in so he waited until she was done.

"Hi Sev!" Lily said. "How did you do on your exams?"

"Pretty good I think. How about you?"

"Well, _Theory of Brewing_ was pretty hard, but I think I may have gotten at least an Exceeds."

"Good. I'm looking for some suggestions about what to get Tuney for Christmas. Any ideas?"

"Well, as you know Petunia loves to cook and I happen to know she loves watching the television show of that American chef, Julia Childs. I know she wants to learn how to cook French so maybe you could get her a cookbook by Julia Childs."

"Good idea, Lily. I can get that a Foyles," Severus nodded. "Are you getting off soon?"

"In about a half hour. Why?"

"I'll wait for you because there's something I want to ask you."

"Okay," Lily said.

Severus went over to see if there were any new potion books and wandered into the Charms aisle. He saw a book entitled, _The Book of Ancient Charms_. He wondered if Lily had a copy, but suspected not. He would have to come back when she wasn't working and buy it for her for Christmas. He was invited over to the Weasley's for Christmas Eve dinner and to the Evans' for the entire Christmas Day. He went back to the Potion aisle and pulled a book off the shelf. He was buried in the book when Lily came up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Are you ready, Sev?"

Severus replaced the book and nodded. They walked outside and it had started to snow lightly. They stood for a moment looking at all the Christmas lights decorating the stores in Diagon Alley.

"It's so beautiful, isn't it, Sev?" Lily asked.

"Yes, it is. I guess I've never really noticed it before," Severus admitted. Until now he'd hated Christmas. He'd never gone home at Hogwarts and neither of his parents cared whether he was there or not.

"What did you want to ask me?" She inquired.

"I received an invitation to the Ministry Ball on New Year's Eve. I can bring a guest and I wondered if you'd like to go as my guest."

"Sev, I would love to go the Ministry Ball with my best friend," Lily replied taking his hand.

They walked to the Leaky Cauldron holding hands and no sooner had they stepped inside then heard a sickeningly familiar voice yell, "Oi Snivellus! What the hell are you doing with my fiancée?"

Both Severus and Lily whipped out their wands as James and Sirius approached them. "I'm no longer your fiancée, Potter and don't insult me by calling me that," Lily snapped.

"Aww come on, Lils. I already forgave you for the donkey ears and tail," James said.

"Well I haven't," Sirius growled raising his wand, but before he could do anything Severus' wand was pointing directly between his eyes. "Try anything, Black and I'll blast your stupid arse out into the middle of Diagon Alley. In fact don't give me a reason because I'd loved to do it without _any_ provocation at all." He said in a silky but deadly voice.

"I'd like to see you try, Snivvy," Sirius said sarcastically. "We always stomped on your worthless arse at Hogwarts!"

"There won't be any _us_ this time, Black. It will be just you and me," Severus replied grinning evilly.

Tom came out from behind the bar. "All right Potter and Black," He said. "Get out of here and don't come back. Every time you're in here, you pick fights and cause trouble and I've had it!"

James mouth dropped open. "You can't do that!"

"As I own this place I most certainly can."

"You'll lose Galleons," James warned. "None of the other Aurors will want to come in here if Padfoot and I aren't allowed because we're the life of the party."

Severus snorted causing James and Sirius to fix him with a dirty look.

"Now look what you've done, Potter!" Tom complained. "You've made my cash register start laughing so hard I won't be able to use it the rest of the day."

"You haven't heard or seen the last of us, Snivellus," James warned before leaving.

"I'm shaking in my shoes, Potter!" Severus sneered. As they were walking out the door to the courtyard, Severus said "_Caliga Calcitro Percutio_!" The spell quickly conjured up 13-size Muggle Army boots that began kicking James and Sirius hard in their bums.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" James yelled. He tried to dodge the boot without success. "What the hell, Padfoot?"

"Come on if we apparate we can lose them, Prongs," Sirius urged.

"That's what he thinks," Severus said snickering.

Everybody who happened to be in the Leaky at that point were pointing at them and roaring with laughter seeing the boots kicking them hard in their bums every five seconds

"Come on, Sev let's go," Lily said tugging on his arm. "Let's get out of here before those two gits decide to come back."

Severus allowed Lily to drag him into the floo. They went to his house first so he could unload his pockets of the presents he'd bought for the Weasley's. He resized them and hid them in his closet. They flooed over to Lily's house and stepped out of the fireplace. Vernon was sitting in the living room talking with Richard. He looked up. "Sev, it's good to see you! How are you feeling? Lily mentioned you're back in school now."

"I'll see if mum and Tuney need any help," Lily said.

Severus nodded and sat down on the couch opposite Vernon and Richard. "I'm doing a lot better, thanks. Not quite 100% yet, but getting there. I've been back at school for two weeks, but Healer Dordt hasn't cleared me to go back to work yet. He'll probably allow me to go back after the first of the year, but I'll be on light duty for awhile."

"Dinner's ready." Iris called from the dining room, carrying in the roast. Lily was setting a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table and Petunia was carrying in the gravy boat and the vegetables. Lily went back into the kitchen and brought a basket of homemade rolls.

Vernon pulled out Petunia's chair for her while Severus did the same for Iris and Lily while Richard carved the roast. Everybody filled their plates and began eating.

"I can't believe how much nicer meals are without those two delinquents, Potter and Black, at the table every night," Richard remarked.

"I couldn't believe it when Pet told me they were studying to be some sort of law enforcement officials," Vernon remarked. "They seem more the type to break the laws rather than enforce them."

"We saw them in the Leaky Cauldron today when we went in to use the floo," Lily said. "Of course they were their usual nasty, vicious selves." She started to giggle. "You all should have been there! Sev conjured up a couple of boots that started kicking their bums. Potter was running about as if he thought he could dodge it like a bludger."

Everybody started to laugh at the thought of Potter and Black with a boot following each of them around and constantly kicking their arses.

"And Black thinks if they apparated fast enough they could lose them," Severus added with a chuckle. "But it's not going to happen! They can apparate to hell and back and it's still going to be kicking them!"

"How long does it last, Sev?" Lily asked.

"Severus shrugged lazily. "I don't really know as it's a hex I just recently invented and that's the first time I tried it on anybody."

"Which means they'll probably have to spend the holidays with the boots still kicking their arses," Lily laughed. "That's better than my donkey tails and ears."

"Or else they'll be going around the next few days with large pillows strapped around their arses because I imagine they'll be pretty sore by morning and they probably won't have gotten much sleep."

Lily giggled again. "I'm sure it will put a bit of a damper on the holiday parties Mrs. Potter holds and the ones Mrs. Potter, James, and Sirius normally attend."

"Remind me never to get on your bad side, Severus," Vernon said with a chuckle.

The next day Severus flooed to Diagon Alley and bought the _Book of Ancient Charms_ for Lily. His next stop was at Foyles where he bought a copy of _Mastering the Art of French Cooking_ by Julia Childs for Petunia. For Vernon he bought a silk tie in a conservative color. He had thought of something to get Mr. and Mrs. Evans so he went back to the appliance store where Iris had taken him to buy his stove and refrigerator and bought them a stereo console for Christmas and arranged to have it delivered on Christmas Eve. He spent the rest of the day, brewing potions to put in the chest he was giving to Molly.

He had appointment with Healer Dordt the next morning to check his wound. "It's healed quite well, Severus, but I would advise wearing a brace for added protection because it's always going to be your Achilles heel if you will; it's the first place any opponent who knows anything about you will try and hit."

When Severus came home he looked at himself in the full-length mirror. The magical brace was invisible, fit well, and was comfortable; it could not be seen under his shirt or under a sweater. It had several strong repelling charms built into it also. Healer Dordt was correct in his assessment. Any Death Eater would know about it and go for that area immediately or Potter and Black would should he ever find himself at their mercy again.

On Christmas Eve morning his phone rang. It was Iris. "Severus Tobias Snape, you come over here immediately!" When Severus stepped out of the floo Iris gave him the biggest hug she could manage. "Sev, you wonderful boy! It's so beautiful!" She led him into the dining room where the stereo console was. Lily and Petunia were admiring the oak wood cabinet and the styling while Richard was testing all the features. Christmas music was already wafting out of the speakers.

Lily came over and stood beside Severus. "Sev, you found the perfect gift for them," she whispered. "Mum and Dad are thrilled with it."

He smiled. "I'm glad they're enjoying it."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus flooed over to the Burrow at five. Molly had mentioned that the boys always went to bed earlier on Christmas Eve. The boys ran over to him as he stepped out, chattering excitedly. He hadn't seen them since the day he was awarded the Order of Merlin.

"Boys! Manners!" Molly called as she set the roasted turkey down on the table. "Come sit down, Severus. Everything's ready."

Severus sat down between Bill and Percy while Charlie sat across the table from them. Charlie was telling Severus that his dad had taken him to see Hagrid at Hogwarts and they'd had a good chat about dragons because Hagrid knew a lot about them. Bill was telling him about a book he was reading about how wizard archeologist thought the pyramids might have been built. Percy had colored a new picture for him and gave it to him proudly. Fred and George banged their hands on the trays of their highchairs and chattered at each other. Arthur sighed as he looked at them. "I wish I knew what they were saying to each other because I have a suspicion they're cooking up plenty of mischief for the future. I'll probably have gray hair, what left of it that is, before I'm forty."

After an excellent Christmas cake, they went into the living room where Severus handed out his gifts. After he thanked Severus for his gift, Bill sat down and immediately began to work on discovering the password to get the pyramid apart. Charlie was thrilled with his tickets to the dragon reserve.

"The portkey doesn't have any time limit on it," Severus explained to Arthur. "You'll just need to activate whenever you decide to go."

Percy's eyes widened when he saw the coloring books and the big box of crayons with all the different colors. Fred and George looked at their bears, looked at each other, and then exchanged bears.

Molly loved her new cookbook and promised to have Severus over for dinner again during the holidays so she could cook a recipe from the book. "Severus, thank you so much for the potions! There's everything in here I could possibly need," she said giving him a hug.

Arthur, of course, was thrilled with the Muggle television set. "I've always wondered how Muggles did this. You know for having no magic, Muggles have come up with some amazing inventions."

"Arthur, if you can figure out how to operate that by magic, you'd have more Galleons than you know what to do with because every wizard and witch would want one. You could open the first Wizarding Appliance store," Severus said.

"I'll start working on it once the holidays are over," Arthur promised.

Severus stayed until it was time for the boys to go to bed and then he wished them all a Happy Christmas and flooed home.

Christmas morning he flooed over to the Evans with Lily's and Petunia's and Vernon's gifts. Petunia gave him a hug when she saw the Julia Child cookbook and promised as soon as she learned how to cook an entire meal she'd have her entire family over. Vernon was very pleased with his tie especially when Severus mentioned that the sales clerk had told him a lot of executives were wearing them to smarten their looks.

Lily laughed as she opened her present. "So this is way Mr. Blott's kept steering me away from this book whenever I showed an interest in it."

"I kind of asked him if he would," Severus admitted.

"Well, I'm glad you did, Sev because it much nicer to receive it as a gift than to buy it for myself," Lily said giving him a kiss on the cheek.

After breakfast which had been a full English breakfast, Severus helped Iris do up the dishes. "Sev, I understand you've been invited to a big to do at your Ministry. What are you going to wear?"

Severus frowned. He didn't have any dress robes as he'd never gone to any of the Yule Balls at Hogwarts after fourth year when Potter and Black had levitated the punch bowl and dumped it over his head, completely ruining the dress robes he'd had and he'd never been able to afford another set. "I guess I'll need to buy a set of dress robes at Madam Malkin's sometime this week."

"Good. Lily and Petunia are going to London next week to find Lily a dress also."

"I think I'll ask Reg to help me with it. He knows much more about what's fashionable than I do," Severus chuckled. "He's Sirius' younger brother, but he nothing like him."

"Thank goodness for that," Iris replied. "One of him is quite enough."

Severus spent an enjoyable day with the Evans' and flooed home with a bag of Christmas treats Iris had insisted on his taking. The next day was Boxing Day and Reg was coming over at six. Severus was having chicken with a honey-ginger glaze which he was slow cooking in the crock pot the Evans' had given him for a house warming gift. He straightened up his house and prepared the rest of the meal. Regulus came through the floo at exactly six. "Merlin! Something smells good!" He said rubbing his hands together.

"Come out into the kitchen," Severus directed. "I'm just getting dinner on the table."

Reg followed him out into the kitchen. "So how are you doing, Sev? I couldn't believe it when I heard you'd been attacked by Death Eaters."

"No thanks to your brother and Potter. They're the ones that spread the rumor that I'd gone to Dumbledore and offered myself as a double agent! I'd spy on You-Know-Who for him and let You-Know-Who think I was spying on Dumbledore for him! I'd have to be suicidal to do that!"

"I knew Siri did some rotten things to you, but I didn't think he'd ever resort to murder," Reg said with a shake of his head. "Mum says he was always a rebel from the time he was born, but still to think his whole family is dark just because we've been in Slytherin for generations is completely asinine!"

"I agree, but Dumbledore is just as much to blame. He's the one who won't compromise when it comes to Slytherin. To him we're all budding dark wizards," Severus said bitterly as he set the food on the table. "So it's no surprise that many students, particularly the Gryffindors, follow his lead. This doesn't include Potter or your brother – they're just plain old psychotic."

"I have to admit I was really surprised to get the owl from Lily about your close encounter with the Death Eaters," Reg confessed as he helped himself to the food. "Especially since I didn't treat her very nicely after you and she had that falling out fifth year; she wouldn't even look at you and spent all her time with Poison Potter and my prick of a brother."

"Now that Lily isn't hanging around with those dunderhead Gryffindors anymore, she's better able to understand the inner dynamics of Slytherin."

Reg shook his head. "The dynamics in Slytherin isn't too good right now. Barty Crouch and some of his friends are big supporters of You-Know-Who. I don't know why Dumbledore can't see he's only helping You-Know-Who by isolating us."

"He never will see because Dumbledore is one of those people who always has to have somebody or something to fight and if there isn't something or someone, he'll invent it." Severus replied and then asked, "Did you say Barty Crouch Jr. is a follower of You-Know-Who?"

"Yeah, you remember that psychotic little runt with the hair that looks like straw and freckles. He's always bragging when he gets the dark mark he's going to be You-Know-Who's top man."

"I take it his father doesn't know what his ambition is?"

"Mr. Crouch is so busy trying to become the next Minister of Magic I'm not sure he'd notice if Barty Jr. brought You-Know-Who home for dinner."

"And I take it Slughorn doesn't notice anything different about him either."

"No. He's too busy kissing up to him, hoping to get some influence with his old man," Reg sneered. "Barty's the leader of a group of junior Death Eaters and between them; the kids who want nothing to do with You-Know-Who, and the ones that want to remain neutral, Slytherin House is tearing itself apart at the seams!"

"If it gets to be too much there's a room on the seventh floor you can go to. It's down the hall from the Gryffindor entrance and around the corner; it's a blank wall across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. You've got to walk up and down three times and think about what you want. I always asked it for a place to study and sleep because it got so I never went back to the Head's suite because Potter and his band of gits were always there. I would ask one of the elves to bring me my meals. It worked out so well that I eventually moved my stuff completely out of the Head's suite and into there."

"I'll bet Evans didn't even notice you had moved out," Reg remarked.

"I imagine Potter and Black told her I was living with my 'dark friend.' I didn't care at that point what Lily thought about anything. I only ever turned up for Head stuff anyway."

Reg squinted remembering. "I remember seeing you come into the Yule Ball last year with Evans, but I don't recall seeing you after that."

"I wasn't feeling well so I came in with Lily and left immediately after that. I just barely made it to the Infirmary in time and it's a good thing Madam Pomfrey has had so much practice conjuring buckets and can do it really fast," Severus grinned. "I spent most of the holiday in the Infirmary." He didn't mention the illness was self-induced by means of a potion he'd taken shortly before the Ball was to begin. He hadn't been to the Yule Ball since the disaster fourth year and figured Potter and Black probably had some major humiliation planned in retaliation for him getting Head Boy. Madam Pomfrey had not been fooled and knew his illness was self-induced and scolded for an hour straight after she'd given him the counter-potion.

"I'll have to try and find this room when I get back. I'll just have to make sure I do when there's no Gryffindorks around. As You-Know-Who gets stronger the tension between the houses gets stronger and everybody's at the point where they hex each other first and ask questions later. It would be nice to have a place where I could relax and where I knew I couldn't be found."

"Give it a try. By the way I've got a favor to ask of you."

"Sure! What is it?"

"Well, I got an invitation to the New Years' Eve Ball at the Ministry and I need a dress robe, but you know me; I don't even have the fashion sense of a Hippogriff."

"Sure, we'll get you a smart set of dress robes and the proper accessories and you'll be ready to make the list of Witch Weekly's ten sexiest wizards."

"Now that would really put a big dent in Potter's ego!"Severus joked.

The next morning he and Reg took the floo to Diagon Alley. Severus head in the direction of Madam Malkin's, but Reg pulled him back with a shake of his head. "No, she's okay for formal robes, everyday robes, and school robes, but for a really top of the line dress robe, we need to go to Twilfit & Tattings."

"Lead the way," Severus said.

Reg directed him to the store. Madam Twilfit greeted them when they walked into the shop. "Mr. Black, how nice to see you again. How can I be of service to you?"

"Madam Twilfit, my friend here needs a dress robe for the Ministry's ball," Regulus explained.

Something stirred in Madam Twilfit's memory as she looked Severus tall frame over. "Are you the son of Eileen Prince?"

"She was my mum, yes," Severus acknowledged wondering why she asked.

For whatever the reason she had asked she chose not to reveal. "I think black velvet with just a touch of silver on the lapels," She said as she began taking Severus' measurements. "If you have other shopping to do your robe will be ready by the time you're done."

Reg motioned to him. "You can get everything here you need."

By the time Severus got back home he was carrying several bags, but Reg had made sure he had everything he needed. In addition to his dress robe, Reg had talked him into buying an outer cloak of the finest wool. On New Year's Eve night, he flooed to the Evans. Richard put down _The Manchester Guardian_ to greet Severus. "Sev, you look quite smart as Petunia would say."

"Thank you," Severus replied. He was holding a white box containing a corsage for Lily. He sat down assuming as usual, Lily was running a bit late.

"I'll go upstairs and let Lily know you're here," Richard said with a smile at Severus who was fidgeting, but trying not to show it.

In a few minutes Richard came back down with Lily following him and Iris and Petunia following her. Severus rose as he saw her.

Lily wore a simple strapless, empire-waist gown of ice blue and her hair was piled on top of her head in a mass of curls and she wore elbow length white gloves. She wore no jewelry except for diamond studs in her ears.

He stared at her for a moment unable to think of what to say then said softly, "You look very lovely, Lily."

"And you look very handsome, Sev," Lily replied.

"Thank you …Oh! This is for you." He gave her the white box he'd been holding.

Lily opened the box to find a wrist corsage of white Gardenias inside. "Sev, it's lovely!" She pulled it over her hand and onto her wrist. Severus helped her on with the sapphire blue velvet cloak she'd bought. "I'll try and have Lily home shortly after midnight if not before."

"That's fine, Sev. We know she's going to be with you so we won't be worried," Iris replied. "Have a good time."

"We will, Mum."

As they stepped out of the Floo in the Ministry atrium there was a young man waiting by the floo. "May I see your invitation, Sir?"

Severus took the invitation he'd received out of the pocket of his cloak and handed it to him. He checked it against another list. "Very well. You can check your cloaks in with the cloak witch over there and the Ball Room, for security reasons, is located near Minister Bagnold's office."

Thank you," Severus said nodding. He and Lily went towards the lifts. "I think I'll shrink our cloaks and put them in my pocket." He said and proceeded to do so.

Lily was still pouting about Severus remarks to her dad. "Sev, you do know I'm almost nineteen and you don't have to act as if I'm some ditzy fifteen year-old."

"I just wanted to assure your mum and dad that I was going to be a complete gentleman is all," Severus answered as they got into the lift. Well, maybe she didn't want him acting like the 'complete gentleman.'

They got out on Level One and were directed to the Ballroom by the person stationed next to the lift. He checked Severus invitation a second time. They walked into the Ballroom which was filled with people dressed in their finest. He briefly wondered if the Potters were going to be here. He'd want to avoid Potter and Black like the plague after the boot-kicking hex.

Sev," Regulus called. He cut around several people and came to stand by Severus. He nodded at Lily. "Thank you for owling me when Sev got hurt." Regulus was dressed in an dark green robe with decorative silver scrolling on the sleeves.

"You're welcome," Lily replied. "I knew Sev would want you to know."

"Sev, you certainly look like a prince among men," Reg said. "Madam Twilfit certainly did an excellent job on your robe. It looks dignified without being boring." He noted the light blue ribbon. "I see you're wearing your Order of Merlin too."

Severus shrugged. "I assumed these were the kind of occasions when I'm supposed to wear it." He looked around. "Where are your parents?"

"Dad's talking to Rufus Scrimgeour over there by the buffet, but I don't see mum."

"Well, shall we avail ourselves of the buffet?" Severus asked Lily, offering his arm to her.

Lily nodded and took Severus arm. As they crossed the room they heard a loud commotion at the door and an outraged female voice said haughtily, "How dare you question our right to be here! First that simpleton downstairs and now you! I am Mrs. Charlus Potter!"

"Shit!" Severus muttered.

Regulus looked around at the door. "I didn't think they'd be here. Didn't Potter's old man die this time last year?"

Severus shrugged. "I don't know. I was in the Infirmary practically the whole holiday last year."

"He died suddenly two days after Christmas. I went to his funeral," Lily said.

"She probably forgot her invitation and doesn't want to admit it," Reg snickered.

"What's the big deal then?" Severus said. "I imagine she can call a Potter house elf and have it bring it to her."

"As far as I'm concerned Sirius can stand out there until hell freezes over," Reg sneered.

Severus spotted Scrimgeour heading in their direction. Rufus stopped in front of them and bowed slightly. "Mr. Black, Mr. Snape and Miss Evans, it's good to see you again. I was just talking with Orion. I'm trying to talk him into coming out of retirement to be an instructor at the Academy. In these times we can certainly use him."

"I don't think he's averse to coming out of retirement, Sir, but with my brother at the Academy now it might be a bit awkward."

"Yes, he did mention that and it's not my choice to place him in an awkward position no matter how much I might need his help," Scrimgeour said.

Severus saw the Potter's had finally been admitted. Mrs. Potter's lips were folded tightly into a thin line so she looked like McGonagall when she was angry; she was obviously still in a snit with what she considered a snub. Severus watched as she sailed across the room where some of the McKinnon's were standing. James and Sirius were following her and much to his amusement, they seemed to be walking somewhat gingerly. He surmised that even if Potter spotted him, he wouldn't dare come over with the Head Auror standing next to him.

The orchestra started to play and Severus looked at Lily. "Would you like to dance, Lily?"

"I'd love to, Sev," she replied with a smile and took his hand as he led her onto the dance floor.

Sirius looked around the room. He saw his mother and father dancing; their precious prince was also dancing with a blond girl who was probably just another pureblood Slytherin snob and a dark witch to boot. He suddenly spotted someone else, nudged James, and pointed. "Isn't that Lily dancing with Snivellus?"

James looked and glared angrily. "What the hell is he doing here? I can't believe Minister Bagnold invited that dark creep!"

"Well, she must have or he couldn't have gotten in without an invitation," Sirius pointed out. When James started towards the couple, Sirius pulled him back. "Scrimgeour's standing right there and you don't want to start a fight with Snivvy while he's there. We're already on his shit list no thanks to Snivellus!"

"I suppose not," James conceded seeing the wisdom in Sirius words. "Yeah, those scummy Slytherins stick together like flies on flypaper!"

"Why don't you ask Marlene to dance, Prongs?" He suggested. "She's been looking over this way pretty often. Besides it will show Evans you don't give a fuck about her and put her in her place."

"Good idea, Padfoot. I just hope Lily won't get so jealous she attacks Marlene or hexes her. Who knows what she might have learned hanging around with Snivellus."

At the moment, Kingsley's Lynx Patronus flew into the room and landed in front of Scrimgeour. "There's been attack by Death Eaters's on Godric's Hollow."

**A/N: **_Caliga Calcitro Percutio - _Boot Kick Hard


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 10**

"Alice and Frank …" Lily began.

"I'm sure they're all right…" Severus started to say when there was another commotion as Potter and Black rushed out, wands drawn. '_No doubt bent on glory_," Severus thought. Mary MacDonald and Marlene McKinnon rushed out after them. "Frank's in his last year of the Auror Academy and he's been training with Ned Crockford."

"Maybe, we should go and see if we can help," Lily suggested.

"Well, they most likely don't want _my_ help and you're not going to be much help dressed as you are. Why don't we go back to your house and you can send Artemis to Alice with a note."

"You're right and I'd probably just be in the way."

They quickly flooed back to Lily's home. Richard and Iris looked up as they stepped out of the fireplace. "Why are you home so early? It's not even 11:00," Richard said.

"There was a Death Eater attack on Godric's Hollow and the news kind of wrecked the party," Severus answered.

"Was that the only place they attacked? They didn't attack where the Weasley's live did they?" Iris asked anxiously.

"Not that we've heard, Mum," Lily answered. She went upstairs, wrote a note, and sent it off with her owl.

Severus sat down in the chair opposite Richard's.

"I don't understand, Sev, why would these people attack a wizarding community?" Iris asked.

"Because many of the prominent so-called 'Light' families live there. I don't think You-Know-Who intends anybody to be injured or killed. I think he was making a point to the Ministry and possibly Dumbledore that he can attack _anywhere_ and _nobody's_ safe no matter where they live."

Lily came back downstairs and sat down next to her mum on the couch. "It will probably be awhile before Alice is able to owl me back."

Iris got up. "Why don't I fix us some tea and snacks while we wait?"

"I'll help you, Mum," Lily said and then asked, "Where's Tuney tonight?"

"Vernon's parents took them out to dinner with Vernon's sister, Marge. I believe she's going to stay there and ring in the New Year. I really like Vernon, but his sister leaves a lot to be desired."

Lily giggled. "Is she the one dad said looks and sounds like a Royal Marine Drill Sergeant?"

"Yes, complete with a mustache. I do hope Petunia can smarten her up a bit for the wedding."

They bought the tea and small cakes into the living room where Severus was talking quietly to Richard.

"I'm sure Alice is all right, Lily. I've always thought she was very spunky," Iris remarked handing the cups around.

It was after midnight before Boadicea returned. Lily grabbed the note she carried, opened it and quickly read it and then smiled in relief. "Alice is okay and so is Frank. She says the Aurors have everything under control now. She said some of the Order rushed in, but were told to stay out of the way by Moody; that they had enough trouble without having to rescue a bunch of fools," Lily giggled. "Alice said Potter Manor was damaged by the retreating Death Eaters. I'll bet Mrs. Potter is fit to be tied!"

Severus chuckled. "I can just see her sitting down and writing You-Know-Who a letter. _Dear Mr. Voldemort, While visiting Godric's Hollow on New Year's Eve your minions behaved in a very rowdy fashion and damaged Potter Manor and I expect the sum of five hundred Galleons from you for the cost of the repairs. If I don't receive it forthwith, you'll be receiving a visit from my lawyer!_"

Lily giggled too. "I can really see her doing something like that. She's unbelievably snobby and thinks just because she has a lot of money it makes her a saint of some sort. I also like that Moody told the Order members to get lost!"

Petunia came in the door just then and looked at everybody laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Godric's Hollow was attacked, but nobody fortunately was hurt however Potter Manor was damaged during the attack. We were just laughing over the fact that Mrs. Potter is probably so angry that they would dare damage _her_ manor that she'll send off a note to You-Know-Who with charges for the repair."

"I can definitely see her doing that," Petunia agreed. "Her nose is so high in the air it's a wonder a jetliner doesn't clip it!"

"Thanks for going to the Ball with me, Lily. I appreciate it," Severus said getting up. "I might see you tomorrow, but if not then at school." He bade Richard, Iris, and Petunia goodnight and flooed home.

Severus got up the next morning, ate breakfast, straightened up his house and then decided to spend some of the day working on defensive tactics. He knew his reaction time was slower than normal and he needed to get up to speed there. He emptied the dining room of all its furniture and transfigured practice dummies out of paper bags. He began with the simple disarming spells such as Potter's all-time favorite, _Expelliarmus_ and _Stupefy._ He practiced for an hour before stopping and returning the dining room back to its former condition. He really needed a room where he could practice without having to temporarily banish the furniture and the only one available was the storeroom next to his bedroom. He decided to clean it out and see what was in there. He sighed as he opened the door. It was jammed with crates, boxes, and old furniture. He was just starting to clear it out when he heard the floo sound and went downstairs to see who it was. "Lily Evans requests entrance," the floo announced.

"Let her come through," Severus replied.

Lily stepped out of the fireplace and used her wand to remove the ashes. "Hi Sev, mum sent me over to invite you over for New Year's dinner. Vernon's coming over too. She's having real maple-glazed ham for dinner."

"That sounds good. Where does she get the real maple?"

"Mum has a cousin that lives in the New England section of the States and she sends her a big canister of syrup every Christmas."

"What time does she want me to come over?"

"She said six."

"Okay. Let her know I'll be there."

"I will. What are you doing today?"

"I'm cleaning out the room next to my bedroom. My parents used it for a storage room and I decided I needed somewhere to practice defense."

"I can help you if you'd like," Lily offered.

"It would probably go faster if I had help," Severus admitted.

"Lead the way."

They went upstairs where Severus already had boxes sitting out in the hallway. "It looks as if they used it to store broken furniture and mostly junk."

Lily tapped her bottom lip with her index finger as she noticed the location of the room right next to what had been his parents' room. "Sev, you don't suppose this was originally your nursery?" From somewhere inside the room she heard Severus snort. "Like they ever gave enough of a crap about me to have an actual nursery."

"Well, they were probably thrilled when your mum got pregnant though."

"Yeah until they found out I was a wizard and Tobias found out his wife had been lying to him all along."

Severus was moving furniture into the hallway and Lily was moving some of the lighter boxes. He set the furniture that could be repaired on one side of the hall and the furniture that to be discarded on the other side. There was a roll top desk with a broken leg and bottom drawer that was hanging loose that Severus wanted for his lab.

One of the things he found in the room was a marble Pensieve. "It must have been mum's."

"What do you think she used it for, Sev?" Lily asked curiously.

He shrugged. "I don't know, but since she didn't have a very nice life here, maybe she used it to relive happier memories."

Seeing how sad finding the Pensieve had made him; Lily went back inside the room. "Sev look at this," Lily called from inside the room. "I was right. This was your nursery."

Severus walked back into the room and saw where Lily was pointing. Wallpaper could now be seen. It had a light blue background with a big moon and a cow jumping over it. A black cat was standing in front playing a fiddle while a dog sat next him laughing and there was a dish running away with a spoon. The ground underneath them was a light brown. The same motif was all over the wallpaper.

"The theme of the wallpaper looks like it was based on the Muggle rhyme _Hey Diddle Diddle_," Lily said.

As they gradually emptied the room they found a crib, a changing table a rocking chair, and an armoire all made of walnut and clearly a matched set, shoved to one side of the room.

Lily ran her hand over the crib railing. "Sev, this is an expensive set and it's in really good shape."

"Obviously they must have bought them before Tobias started drinking his wages, that is of course, when he _had_ wages," Severus remarked sarcastically. He chuckled. "I guess I must have not been one of those babies who chewed on their cots."

"What are you going to do with them?" Lily asked.

Severus shrugged. "I don't know. I could sell it I suppose. It's in good shape and I could probably get a good price for it, but I'll probably just shrink it and put it in a box in the closet there." He went over the closet in the room and opened it. It was empty thankfully, but dusty. Severus took out his wand and said, "_Tergeo_," and sucked all the dust out of the closet. There were shelves on one side of the closet. He emptied a box of papers into another box and with Lily's help he shrank the baby furniture and placed it in a box, labeled it, and put it on the shelf in the closet.

"Let's just shrink the rest of these boxes and put them on the shelves in here and I'll go through them when I have more time."

They proceeded to shrink the boxes and stack them on the shelves in the closet. Lily picked up one box to shrink it, but it was torn and fell out of her hands, spilling photographs all over the floor. "I'm so sorry, Sev," Lily said bending down and starting to pick up the photos. She repaired the box with a wave of her wand and began putting the photos back in it.

Severus picked up one and saw it was a picture of six soldiers standing in front of a tent; Tobias being one of the six. The background appeared to be a jungle and it looked to be near sunset. It looked as if they were going out on patrol because they were dressed in camouflage and had blackened their faces. It gave him an idea. "Leave that box out, Lily," Severus requested. "I've never seen these pictures before and I want to look through them." He took the box and placed it in his bedroom to look at later.

They finished shrinking all the boxes and putting them away. Severus shrank all the stuff he had set aside to throw out, tossed it into a garbage bag, and took it out to the dustbin. When he came back upstairs he went back into the room, pointed his wand at the cracked linoleum and said, "_Evanesco_." The linoleum vanished revealing the wooden floor underneath it. Severus cast a _Scourgify_ to clean it and then cast the _Nitesco _spell to polish it. He got six cotton balls out of the bathroom and transfigured them into thick mats. Lily noticed that he hadn't done anything with the wallpaper. "I'm planning to use this room for practicing defense," he explained. "My reflexes are kind of slow after two months of inactivity."

"Would you mind if I came over and practiced with you occasionally?" Lily asked.

"No. Maybe I'll invite Remus over too."

Lily flooed back home and Severus took a shower, got dressed and flooed over to the Evans for dinner. The maple ham was tender and delicious as was the rest of the meal. Vernon and Richard discussed Manchester United's chances for the league title this year while Lily and Petunia discussed shopping for Petunia's wedding dress and Lily's maid of honor dress as her wedding date was set for mid-June. Severus ate quietly while working on an idea he'd gotten after seeing the picture of the camouflaged men. Dessert was treacle tart. Severus ate his with a dollop of Devonshire crème.

When he got back he looked through the pictures in the box before going to bed. It contained a mixture: some were of Tobias as a Royal Marine, some were of his mum and Tobias and there were a few of him as a baby and a toddler and a couple from what was apparently his first birthday, but none of him after that. Severus figured that was probably when Tobias had found out he had a witch for a wife and a wizard for a son.

He went back to college the next day and back to work for the first time since October. The two owners were happy to see him again, but insisted on him doing light work such as stocking the shelves, sorting potion ingredients into jars and labeling the jars until his healers cleared him to do heavier work. He worked until five and then met Kingsley at the Leaky for dinner. Severus cast the _Muffliato_ Charm around their booth so nobody could overhear their conversation. "I had this idea for when we're fighting against Death Eaters." He took out the picture of the soldiers out of his pocket. "You see the clothing they're wearing?"

Kingsley took the photograph and studied it. "What is it? I've never seen any clothes like this before."

"It called camouflage clothing. Muggle soldiers wear it so they blend in with their surroundings and the enemy can't spot them easily. It gives them an advantage over the enemy. It's usually a light green or grey background with patches of slightly darker green, gray or brown over it."

"So …what you're thinking, Sev is we should wear this camouflage whenever we're out patrolling?"

"I'm thinking it will give us an advantage. We should also learn how to use hand signals too because talking might give away our position."

"What the stuff they're wearing on their faces?" Kingsley asked.

"I don't know. I think it's some kind of paste or something that's used to blend in further and I'm assuming it's impervious to sweat."

"I guess I won't need any of that since I already have natural camouflage," Kingsley joked. "I don't know when the next meeting is yet or where it will be, but somebody will contact you to let you know and you can let Lily know."

"That sounds good," Severus replied. When he got home He did an hour of defense practice before going to bed. The next day Severus met April in the library and after casting his _Muffliato _spell, told her about the new defense group which he jokingly referred to as 'Weasley's Warriors,' and asked her if she wanted to join. "Arthur says anybody who's interested in fighting You-Know-Who is welcome to join and Professor Flitwick is a member."

"What happened to Dumbledore's group?" April asked.

'A lot of people got tired of Dumbledore listening to Potter and Black over more experienced people. They felt they were careless and would put them and their families in danger. Arthur, Edgar Bones, and Alastor Moody all tried to get Potter kicked off the Inner Council after what he and Black did to me, but Dumbledore refused."

"Of course he would! The Marauders' heads are stuck so far up Dumbledore's arse I'm surprised he can sit down!" April snorted. "I guess I could go to one meeting and see whether or not it's something I want to be part of. Is Lily a part of it?"

"Yes, she and Potter broke up after she found out he was the one that deliberately leaked that lie about me in the Leaky Cauldron that caused You-Know-Who to come after me."

"Well, I guess she's not entirely stupid after all."

Severus continued to practice defensive spells every night and soon felt he was back to his previous speed. He had also been brewing various potions that would be needed if somebody were injured. He was practicing one night when a weasel Patronus landed in the room and announced in Arthur's voice, "Meeting tomorrow evening at eight o'clock at the Hog's Head. See you then." He went downstairs to the fireplace, grabbed some floo powder, knelt down and threw it in and said, "Evans residence, Manchester."

Richard came over and knelt down by the fire. "Sev, how are you?"

"Fine, sir. Is Lily available?"

"Yes, she just got back from her last class and she'd eating dinner. Let me get her for you."

He got up and left for a moment and Severus could hear him calling Lily. A few seconds later Lily's face appeared in the fire. "What is it, Sev?"

"I just got a message from Arthur that there's going to be a meeting tomorrow night at eight at the Hog's Head."

"Okay. I'll floo over to your house about 7:30 and we can floo to the Hog's head from there."

"I'll see you then."

The next day Severus told April about the meeting that night. "If you want to come you can floo home with me and when Lily comes we'll floo to the meeting."

"Are you going to ask Boris, Kaemon, Michelle, or Colleen about joining?" April asked.

"I suppose I could, but You-Know-Who really hasn't really gotten a foothold in their countries yet although I think he could easily enough in France and Ireland, but Russia and Japan are pretty far for his reach right now."

"No to mention that the Communist's would probably kick his arse around the block if he tried and imprison him in Siberia somewhere," April added. "Hmm …maybe somebody ought to suggest it to a Death Eater so they can suggest it to him that he should invade the Soviet Union."

When Lily flooed over to Severus' house that night she found him waiting with April.

Lily nodded at April. "Hello, April. How are you?"

"Fine and you?" April asked politely.

"I'm also fine." Lily turned to Severus. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yes." All three of them stepped into the fireplace and Severus called out, "Hog's Head, Hogsmeade," and then he threw down the floo powder.

The bar was completely dark as they stepped out of the fireplace at the Hogs Head, but Aberforth was waiting to escort them upstairs. When they entered the room Severus noticed there was a long table with chairs all around it. Arthur was standing and talking with Filius, Frank, and Remus while Molly was visiting with Alice. Edgar Bones and Benjy Fenwick were already seated at the table and talking with Ned Crockford. Lily went over to talk with Alice and Molly while Severus took April over to introduce her to Arthur.

Filius was always happy to see one of his former house members and chatted amicably with her.

Moody and Kingsley arrived and the meeting was called to order. Arthur stood up. "I know I said this at the last meeting, but I'd like to say again that anybody who's interested in fighting You-Know-Who is welcome in this group." He turned to Alastor. "What can you tell us about the attack on Godric's Hollow, Alastor?"

Moody snorted. "Biggest cock-up I've ever seen! We could have caught more Death Eaters if Dumbledore hadn't sent in his clown patrol. Bunch of glory hounds! Potter and Black flying around on their brooms like morons and when the Death Eaters got on theirs and started chasing them then we had to go rescue them."

"Not to mention those gits were flying around haphazardly casting spells that almost hit some of us," Frank complained.

"All they did was get in our way," Kingsley agreed. "We spent more time having to rescue them than fighting the Death Eater. MacDonald and McKinnon didn't even have the sense to change out of their party clothes before coming." He shook his head. "They got cornered by Death Eaters and couldn't run away because of their long dresses and the high heels on their shoes. Ned and Frank had to rescue them."

"I think You-Know-Who was just flexing his muscles," Ned said. "The only real damage they did was set fire to the roof of Potter Manor."

"I agree with Ned. I think it was just a scare tactic to show people he could strike anywhere at any time." Severus said.

"Well it worked because people are bloody scared!" Alice replied.

"I heard Dumbledore recruited John Dawlish to replace Kingsley and me in the Order. No surprise there since he's a close buddy of Potter's and Black's," Moody said.

"Sev has a good idea for when we're ready to start patrolling," Kingsley said.

Severus passed the picture around he'd found in the box of photos and explained about the camouflaged clothing the soldiers in the picture wore. He'd also found a book of his father's on hand signals.

"So, what you're saying is that this clothing will make it harder for the Death Eaters to spot us?" Edgar asked.

"Yes, it's like being disillusioned, but it won't be a drain on your magical core," Severus said. "You know how you can only stay disillusioned for short periods of time and that doesn't work if you're watching a bunch of Death Eater. You don't suddenly want to become visible again."

Molly studied the picture while thoughtfully tapping her lip. "You know, Severus if you can find me an outfit of this material I can easily replicate it with a _Geminio_ spell."

"I'm going to check the military surplus stores, Molly and see what I can find. I think I'll ask your dad to come with me, Lily."

The meeting ended with Arthur saying that everybody would be contacted with the time and place of the next meeting. Moody added that they should all continue practicing their non-verbal spell and if anybody needed help they could contact him and they would be given a tutor. He had replicated the book on hand signals that Severus had bought and gave everyone a copy with orders to learn them. "Anything that will put us ahead of the Death Eaters needs to be taken seriously. After all, this _is_ a war we're fighting and constant vigilance is the key to winning."

Severus continued practicing to increase his speed. Sometimes he was joined by Lily or Remus or Frank and Alice. Kingsley came over quite a bit with April.

"So are you and April becoming an 'item'?" Severus teased when they met for their weekly dinner at the Leaky

Kingsley chuckled. "She is very smart and attractive. We're both alumni of the same house so that gives us additional common ground."

"Well, she's very nice and I think you'd be good for each other."

Severus, with Richards's help, bought a camouflage outfit from the military surplus store and took it over to the Burrow. Molly replicated it and would size them on everybody at the next meeting. After two more months of intense training and learning the hand signals Moody deemed them ready for patrol and possible engagement with the enemy.

"We've gotten several report of a lot of activity around the Lestrange Manor in Gravesend. I think we should check it out."

"Severus, Lily, Edgar and Ned will go there." Arthur decided. "For the time being one of the Aurors will accompany each group. What else, Alastor?"

"There's been activity sighted at Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire, too. Since Lucius is sitting in a cell in Azkaban I'd like to know what's going on there," Moody said. "Finally the villagers in Little Hangleton have reported seeing lights in the old Riddle Manor there."

"Alice, Frank, Kingsley and April will go to Malfoy Manor and watch while Alastor, Filius, Aberforth, Remus, and I will go to Little Hangleton. Benjy, you have medical training so I want you to stay here with Molly in case anyone is hurt."

Benjy nodded and went to check the chest of potions that Severus had brewed and make sure everything was in order.

Severus had brewed a dark paste for their faces. "It will not only provide camouflage, but it will condition your skin," he joked.

They were all dressed in the camouflage that Molly had replicated and shrunk or enlarged to fit everyone. She'd even added a special pocket for their wands.

"Don't engage the Death Eaters unless you have no choice," Arthur instructed. Everybody's apparition took them within a mile of their assigned targets. That way the cracks of their apparition couldn't be heard by the occupants of the manor houses.

Severus, Lily, Edgar, and Ned hid themselves in a nearby ditch. They had been there nearly an hour when they suddenly heard three cracks and heard Bellatrix's voice say. "If you two want to play with that Mudblood you captured; do it and then kill her!"

At eye level in the ditch they could see Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan with a girl who looked to be maybe fourteen."

"No! Please don't hurt me! Please let me go!" The girl pleaded frantically

"Shut up, Mudblood!" Rodolphus snarled hitting her across the face and knocking her down. She didn't move again.

Edgar hand signaled to the rest of them that he would cast the _Toenail_ hex on Rodolphus. Ned decided to use the _Boot Kicking_ hex on Rabastan and signaled what he was going to do. Severus wanted to cast the _Comburo Irrito_ hex on Bellatrix. They would cast them all at the same time after which Lily would stun and bound them.

Rodolphus started screaming as his toenails tore through his shoes and then Rabastan began yelling as two boots began kicking his arse and he ran around in circles attempting to dodge them. Lily cast the _Langlock_ hex at both of them to shut them up.

"What are you two screaming about?" Bella demanded. It was too dark for her to see what was happening. "If the Mudblood bitch scratched, bit or kicked you don't come whining to me!"

Severus chose that moment to cast the _Comburo Irrito_ hex at Bella. She suddenly started screaming and tearing at her dress in a frantic attempt to scratch where she itched. For good measure Severus also cast his _Whirling_ hex at her too. She began spinning around so fast the skirt of her dress flew up around her face so she was unable to see anything. Severus cast the _Langlock_ hex at her so she couldn't scream.

Lily stunned all three of them although she did allow Bella to whirl around a bit longer than necessary before stunning her. She then cast an _Incarcerous_ on all three of them and gagged them for good measure. They wanted for ten minutes to see whether anybody else emerged from manor in response to the noise and then Edgar cast his bulldog Patronus and sent it to Scrimgeour with the message about the three Death Eaters lying stunned and bound outside of Lestrange Manor. Severus took all the hexes off them and repaired Rodolphus' shoes. He figured it would be better if nobody recognized his hexes. Lily went over to examine the girl.

"Is she all right, Lily?" Severus whispered.

"Yes, she's just knocked out. We'll take her back to the Burrow and let Molly take care of her," Lily said.

All four of them walked back to their apparition point to disapparate. Severus carried the girl since he was the tallest and it was easier for him to do it. They disapparated and appeared in yard outside the Burrow. Molly and Benjy ran out when they heard the cracks of apparition. "What happened? Who's this, Sev?" Molly said.

"Bellatrix, her husband and his brother kidnapped her and were going to rape her and kill her. We hit them with a few hexes, stunned and bound them. Edgar sent his Patronus to Scrimgeour and he'll take care of the rest."

"She's just a young girl," Molly said as Severus laid her on the couch.

"The Lestrange brothers always were a couple of perverts!" Severus spat.

Benjy ran his wand over her. "She's okay, just out cold." He grabbed the parchment that appeared. "Hmm …she does have a slight concussion and some serious bruising probably from when they grabbed her."

Molly's face hardened and she stood up straight. "I'm glad you rescued her and I hope you gave those three hell!"

"We did," Ned assured her. "I don't think Rabastan is going to be able to sit down properly for a few days. That boot kicking hex really works!"

"Well, I tested it on Potter's and Black's arses first," Severus commented with a smirk.

There were several cracks outside the Burrow causing everybody inside to draw their wands, but Alice called, "It's me, Frank, April and Kingsley." They walked in to see Molly and Benjy bent over the girl on the couch. "What happened?" April asked.

Before he could start there was a couple of more cracks and then Arthur followed by Aberforth came in. "Where are Remus, Professor Flitwick, and Moody?" Lily asked in concern.

"Remus and Filius flooed back to Hogwarts before Dumbledore could discover both their absences," Arthur explained. "And Moody went back to Auror Headquarters to see who Scrimgeour sent to fetch the Lestranges."

Severus proceeded to relate what had happened at the Lestrange Manor. "We really didn't have a choice, but to engage them," he said. "We struck fast and furious. None of them knew what hit them either."

"You didn't have a choice," Arthur agreed. "You couldn't allow them to harm that young girl."

The next morning's _**Prophet**_ Headline story was about the capture of the Lestranges. Few details were given except that Rufus Scrimgeour had received anonymous information about the Lestranges' capture and had sent two Aurors to Lestrange Manor to find Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan stunned, gagged and bound. All three were now sitting in high security cells in the Ministry.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Voldemort finished reading the _**Prophet**_, angrily crumpled it and threw it in the fireplace at Riddle Manor. He had now lost two of his most trusted advisors, Mulciber and Bellatrix and three of his most loyal Death Eaters, Lucius and the Lestrange brothers. His spy within the Order was useless and he had put the _Cruciatus Curse_ to good use last night on him and the rest of his followers for their worthlessness. His plan to take over Wizarding Britain that had been moving smoothly and swiftly was now in peril it seemed.

"I will find them and have my revenge!" He screamed.

Nagini slithered up his chair making soft hissing sounds to comfort him.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break **

James and Sirius were lounging in Dumbledore's office after a big breakfast with Albus who was upset after reading the morning _**Prophet**_. Elphias Doge was also present. Albus put down the paper.

"Does Mr. Dawlish know anymore about this than the information printed in the paper?"

James shook his head. "All his said was Scrimgeour contacted the Aurors on duty that he'd received an anonymous tip about captured Death Eaters at Lestrange Manor and sent Aurors Knightly and Finchley out there to check it out and they reported back that they found Bellatrix, her husband and his brother lying stunned, bound and gagged outside."

Albus slammed his fist down on his desk. "This is making us look as if we're fools! The Order should be the ones capturing Death Eaters and meting out justice not some vigilante!"

"Well Albus since so many members have left the Order we are spread thin and we can't be everywhere at once as much as we might want to be," Elphias pointed out.

"We'll have to rectify this. The Order of Phoenix needs to be in the forefront of the battle against Voldemort! We need to think of ways to top whoever did this last night!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 11**

_Two months later:_

Weasley's Warriors, as they privately referred to themselves, were doing rotating watches on the old Riddle Manor in Little Hangleton. There had been a report in the paper of the elderly caretaker, Frank Bryce, being found dead with his eyes open, exactly the same as Mr. and Mrs. Riddle and their son 34 years before. The villagers were convinced that he had died of the same strange disease as had killed the Riddles' and shunned the derelict manor. Moody reckoned it was a good thing they believed that or else there might be a lot more dead Muggles because it was obvious to any witch or wizard that the Riddles and their caretaker had been killed by the _Avada Kedavra_ curse.

They kept a close watch on the manor, the grounds and people were even assigned to watch the graveyard. If for no other reason then that's where the Death Eaters would most likely apparate when Voldemort called them.

Moody also advised his watchers to be on the lookout for the clown patrol. Dawlish had been snooping around, trying to find out where he and Kingsley, Crockford and Longbottom were assigned to. With all the noise the Order made, they'd alert everybody for miles around. Everyone had read the article in the _**Prophet** _Dumbledore had written earlier in the week condemning them as unlawful vigilantes.

The young girl they had saved from the Bellatrix, her husband, and his brother had been returned safely to her family after having her memories of the incident and what followed obliviated.

There appeared to be nothing stirring this night at Riddle Manor so Arthur ordered everybody back to the Burrow.

"Maybe, we've put a spoke in You-Know-Who's wheel with the Death Eaters we've captured over the last months," Benjy Fenwick offered.

"Possibly," Mad-Eye said. "But I've never known him to give up this easily. Even though we've caught some of his inner circle, he still has many of his most loyal followers left."

"He's might be pulling back to consider new strategies," Severus said. "For the first time he's being faced with something making a dent in his rise to power and he knows nothing about it. It must be a real kick in the arse for him."

"I don't doubt that a bit, Severus," Arthur replied.

Severus flooed home and checked over his assignments that were due tomorrow. He studied for a bit before going to bed. He had his Warding class tomorrow evening and he would need to remember to ask Arthur if he would take notes for him during the next week. College would be out for a week for spring break after Friday and he was planning to visit Witches Moon, the manor house he'd inherited in the Northern York Moors. He also wanted to visit Alltyr Eryr, his house in Wales that meant 'wood of the eagle,' and his home in Scotland, that was called 'Rough Stones.' He was happy it wasn't anywhere near Hogwarts. He truly never wanted to see that place again.

On Friday, he received a note from Dean Stanwood asking him to stop by his office after class. Severus frowned and tucked the note into the pocket of his robe. He couldn't think of any reason the Dean would want to see him as his class work and test scores were usually E's or O's. He sat in the library, frowning up at the ceiling.

"Something bothering you, Sev?" Lily asked sitting down across from him.

"I got a note to see Dean Stanwood after class and I'm trying to figure out why he wants to see me. My grades are good and so is my attendance so …" He shrugged.

Lily reached across the table and playfully socked him in the arm. "Don't be such a pessimist, Sev. Honestly! It might be for something good."

"Ouch!" Severus complained rubbing his arm. "That hurt!" He smiled. "Okay, it might be for something good." He got up. "I guess I'd better go and see Dean Stanwood and find out what it actually _is_."

"Are you going to be home on Easter, Sev?" Lily called.

"I should be. Why?"

"Mum wants you to come over for dinner."

He nodded. "Tell her I'll be there."

He left the library and walked down the hall to Dean Stanwood's office. There was another older man sitting chatting with the dean. He looked to be in his late 50's or possibly early 60's and had white hair and a white beard, but neither were a long as Dumbledore's. Severus knocked on the door. "You wanted to see me, Sir?"

"Yes, Severus, please come in and shut the door," Dean Stanwood requested.

Severus came in shutting the door behind him as requested. He looked rather uncertain what he should do next. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I hope I'm not in trouble, Sir."

"By all means no, Severus," Roger said cheerfully. "Please take a seat." He turned to the other man. "Nicolas, this is the young man I was telling you about, Severus Snape. Severus, I'd like you to meet Master Nicolas Flamel."

Severus shook his hand. "It's a great honor to meet you, Sir."

"The honor is mine, Mr. Snape." Flamel had brown eyes that appeared lively and inquisitive. "Rogers tells me you are one of the most brilliant potion students he's seen in many years at this college. He says you are dedicated to your craft and a hard worker."

"It's been my passion as far back as I can remember," Severus said. "My mum taught me a lot of it. She was very talented in potions also."

"I knew your grandfather, Tiberius, quite well. I also recall your mother. She won quite a few awards for her ability in potions. I did not agree with your grandfather actions regarding your mother's marriage. Perenelle and I tried to talk him out of it, but he was very stubborn and would not listen to our advice. I was saddened to hear of her passing."

"Thank you," Severus said bowing his head slightly.

"Why is it that Albus never mentioned you when we spoken? He spoke of a Miss Evans frequently."

"I was in Slytherin and he disliked our entire house; he believes all of us to be budding dark wizards. Miss Evans was a Gryffindor and he would have spoken highly of her intelligence."

Flamel shook his head. "As I suspected. It is true that Mr. Riddle and his closest associates came out of Slytherin, but Slytherin also has a long history of producing some of the most brilliant healers, herbologist, and potion masters also. It saddens me that he allows his prejudices to blind him to the facts."

Severus shrugged. "The headmaster's always favored his house. None of them could do any wrong as far as he was concerned."

Again Flamel shook his head and said, "Not surprising at all."

"Master Flamel, I assume you didn't come here to discuss the eccentricities of Albus Dumbledore."

"You are quite correct, Mr. Snape, but first may I ask what your plans are after you graduate from this fine establishment?"

"I hope to attain a good apprenticeship and once I gain my mastery I want to work at the Potions Research Department at St. Mungo's. I want to help find antidotes for these terrible potions You-Know-Who has created."

"An admirable decision, Mr. Snape," Nicolas said. "Roger tells me that you patented two potions before you eighteenth birthday."

"Yes, I invented a potion for the Cruciatus Curse. St. Mungo's is testing it right now and the reports have been encouraging about it healing nerve damage. I also improved the Blood Replenishing Potion so that it lasts longer and there's no need to have to take it every hour."

"Quite brilliant, young man." Flamel nodded obviously pleased.

"Right now I'm working on the Wolfsbane Potion. I have a friend who suffers from Lycanthropy and I would really like to try and make his transformations easier."

"And you are exactly what I'm looking for in an apprentice, Mr. Snape. Someone who is dedicated to his craft, passionate about it, innovative and not afraid to experiment, and a hard worker. It is seldom I take apprentices; the last one was more than fifty years ago. I seldom find the characteristics and qualities I look for in one. I am a demanding taskmaster so many of them do not last either," he said with a chuckle.

"I accept," Severus replied. "A demanding taskmaster doesn't bother me as I'm one myself."

"If you will come over to my house this time next week I will have the papers ready for you to sign. Our Floo address is Flamel Manor, Kent." He got up. "I must be getting back to my Perenelle or she will start worrying." He shook hands with Severus. "I look forward to seeing you next week, Mr. Snape."

Lily was waiting by the floo when Severus came out of Dean Stanwood's office to floo home. She smiled when she saw him. "Okay, I confess. I couldn't leave without finding out why Dean Stanwood wanted to see you. Was it good new?"

Severus smiled in return. "Very. I'm going to be Nicolas Flamel's apprentice once I finish college."

"Sev, that's fantastic!" Lily exclaimed throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. She turned bright red and let go of him. "Sorry! I got a bit carried away there."

Severus grinned. "It's okay. I was pretty carried away when Master Flamel told me he wanted me as his apprentice …umm, but I didn't kiss him."

"Very funny, Sev," Lily replied pretending to pout for a moment and then grabbed his hand pulling him into the floo. "Come on with me, Sev. You have to tell mum and dad your news. They'll be so thrilled for you!"

When they stepped out of the fireplace into the living room of Lily's home they found Iris was home, but Richard wouldn't be off work for another hour yet. "Sev, it's good to see you. You'll stay for dinner, of course."

"Yes," Severus nodded.

Richard came home about a half-hour later and found Severus and Lily quietly studying together. He smiled and cleared his throat. "Hello, you two."

"Hi, Dad!" Lily gave him a kiss. "How was your day?"

"Very nice actually," Richard said. "How was yours, Lily?"

"I think I did really well on my test today so it was a really good day."

"Good job!" Richard said complimenting her. "How are you, Sev?"

"Very well, Sir. Thank you for asking."

Iris came into the living room and gave her husband a kiss. "Petunia's going to be a bit late tonight so I'm holding dinner until she gets home."

"That's fine. I wanted to shower anyway," Richard replied heading upstairs.

Petunia arrived home just as they were sitting down to dinner. "I'm starving!" She said as Severus pulled out her chair for her. She served herself some of the meal. "Busy day, Tuney," Lily asked.

"Yes! It was packed today. Everyone was in buying their Easter dresses, shoes, purses, and hats. I don't think there was much left in the store by the time I left," Petunia replied. "Why some women leave this until practically the last minute I'll never understand."

"Some people don't enjoy shopping and so they do put it off until they no longer can," Iris remarked.

"Sev had some news today," Lily said mischievously.

"Good news, I hope," Richard said.

Severus nodded. "Very good. I got an offer of an apprenticeship with Nicolas Flamel whose one of the most brilliant wizards ever! He's an Alchemist mainly, but alchemy has a lot to do with potions so I'll be studying a lot of new information. I'm really glad now that I studied Arithmancy and Ancient Runes."

Lily was glad Severus left out the part about Flamel being 652 years-old. "It's really a great honor that he picked Sev. I remember Professor Slughorn saying Flamel hadn't had an apprentice for many years because he has such high expectations."

"Congratulations, Severus," Petunia said. "It sounds like a great honor."

"Thanks, Tuney," Severus replied.

Both Richard and Iris offered Severus their congratulations. "When will you start your apprenticeship, Sev?" Richard asked. "You're already doing so much now."

"It won't start until after I graduate. I'll be finished with my Wardsmith training this summer and I'll be a certified Wardsmith. I'm also planning to take classes during the summer. I want to finish college early so I can start my apprenticeship."

Lily was very proud of Severus and she wished now she had forgiven him that night when he came to Gryffindor to ask for her forgiveness. How stupid she'd been to fall for an insincere, shallow arse like Potter!

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus flooed to an inn called the Dragon's Tail the next morning and took out the medallion that was inside the letter Zort had given him. According to the instructions in the letter he was supposed to apparate the rest of the way to Witches Moon and as long as he had the medallion with him, it would take him right to the gates of the manor. "Okay then," Severus muttered going outside and turning on his heel. He landed in front of an ornate iron gate with a large _**P**_ intertwined with two serpents at the top of it. He looked around for some way to open the gate and finally spotted an oval shaped indentation. He fitted the medallion into it, heard a click, and then the gates soundlessly swept open. His first view of the manor house was quite a shock. It was made of what looked like grey, quarried stone. It had two wings that had been built in the same style as the main house and with the same material. It meshed nicely architecturally and aesthetically without being ostentatious like the Malfoy and Potters mansions. It had many windows and he didn't even want to take a guess at how many rooms it must have. He walked across the courtyard to the double doors and immediately saw there was another indentation like on the front gate. He followed the same procedure and the door swung opened silently. He stepped through the door and it shut behind him and he heard a soft click as it relocked itself. He was standing in an immense foyer with an Italian marble floor. The oak staircase in front of him had a large landing that was outfitted with comfortable window set below the long glass windows. From there the staircases diverged; one going off to the right and the other to the left. Severus assumed they led to each of the wings.

A sudden pop behind him startled him and he turned to find an two elves; one dressed in a long emerald, green dress with the Prince crest on the left breast and brown leather slippers on her feet. The other, a male Severus assumed, wore pants of the same emerald green. His shirt was of a lighter green with the Prince crest on the pocket. Like his female counterpart he also wore brown leather slippers on his feet.

"I is Tita, head elf of Witches Moon and this is my mate, Matius."

"I'm Severus Snape and I'm pleased to meet you," Severus said softly.

"You is our new master, Miss Eileen's son," Matius said. "We is given the news by Zort."

"Does Master Severus wish to be taken to his suite?" Tita asked.

"Yes, please. I'd like to freshen up and then take a look around."

Tita and Matius took him upstairs to the master suite. The suite was done in a light blue with honey oak woodwork and cornices. The large sitting room contained a fireplace with a mantle that was also of elaborately carved honey oak. The end tables and coffee table were of the same carved wood. The couch, a recliner and an arm chair upholstered in dark blue and each looked very comfortable. A balcony overlooked the grounds in the rear of the manor. The bedroom had a big Elizabethan style bed with an elaborately carved canopy above it. The bed curtain were a pale green silk with interwoven silver threads. The in-suite bathroom was almost as big as the prefect's bathroom at Hogwarts.

"Is there anything else Master Severus requires?" Matius asked formally.

"I have a few questions," Severus replied. "How many elves are there here?"

"We is thirty altogether," Tita answered.

"And do you have everything you need as far as food, clothing, and living quarters?"

"Yes, Master Tiberius and Mistress Audra be taking very good care of us. We not be lacking for anything, Master Severus," Matius said.

"Good. If you need anything at all; you will let me know?"

"Yes, Master Severus," They both said bowing slightly.

"One last thing and you can tell everybody else this. Please just call me Mr. Severus. I really don't go in for the Master title even though I know that's what you called my grandfather."

"We will do as you request, Mr. Severus." They popped out again, leaving Severus alone. He went into the bedroom intending to unpack, but decided to leave it as he knew the elves would probably be upset if they found he unpacked himself. What he really wanted to do was check out the library. He could remember his mum once talking about it and saying it was almost as big as the Hogwarts library. He found his way back down to the foyer, turned left, figuring the library was in that direction. He found it behind the first closed door off the foyer. He could see the conservatory at the very end of the hallway. He opened the door and went inside, failing to notice the two sleeping portraits over the fireplace mantle. He started to peruse the potion books; there were many he'd never seen before when suddenly a stern sounding voice demanded, "Who's in here?"

Severus peeked out and saw the two portraits he assumed were of his grandparents. They were peering around the room anxiously. He stepped out and walked up to the portraits. "I'm Severus Snape, your grandson."

"Yes, Tita did inform us Zort had decided that you should be the inheritor," Tiberius said peering down at him.

"If you didn't want me to have it you should have so informed Zort," Severus replied calmly.

"Now I never intended that, young man!" His grandfather snapped.

"Tiberius," his grandmother interrupted. "He has the look of the Prince's. He looks just like our darling Eileen."

Although he kept his face impassive Severus thought cynically. '_Darling Eileen_? _Where were you two when Tobias was beating the hell out of both of us?_'

Severus' chin went up proudly as Tiberius studied him. "I believe you're right, Audra." He looked down at Severus again. "Now don't get your back up, young man. We made a ghastly mistake with Eileen and we've paid for it and still are."

"We never saw her again when she walked out the door after breaking her betrothal to Alasdair Malfoy," Audra said sadly.

"You betrothed her to a Malfoy; the same Malfoy's that are loyal followers of You-Know-Who?"

"Yes. We betrothed them at birth," Tiberius answered.

"Are you betrothed, Severus?" Audra asked.

"No, nor do I intend to be until I receive my mastery in potions and when I do decide to marry it will be my decision alone who I marry." He might as well lay it on the line so they didn't get any ideas.

"Tell us about yourself, Severus," Tiberius asked.

Severus told them about being Head Boy, some of the potions he had invented or redid while he was at Hogwarts, about his early admittance to the College of Potions and his latest news about his apprenticeship with Nicolas Flamel. "But it isn't because I'm your grandson either," Severus pointed out.

"Of course not," Tiberius agreed. "Nicolas wouldn't even consider you unless you are totally dedicated to your craft."

Severus nodded slightly to acknowledge his grandfather's compliment.

"I believe our grandson is worthy of the Prince heritage, Tiberius," Audra declared.

"I quite agree with you, my dear," Tiberius replied beaming proudly.

Severus excused himself, borrowed a couple of potion books from the library and went back upstairs to read. He settled himself on the couch and began to read, but couldn't concentrate on what he was reading and laid the book aside. He thought about what his grandparents had said about his mum; they obvious regretted what they had done and were remorseful they had never had a chance to right things. He thought about his and Lily's relationship; they'd both said awful things and hurt one another, but how much of it was them and how much was the pressures to conform to their house expectations? He had made the mistake of hanging around with the wanabee Voldemort followers while Lily had made the mistake of becoming friends with the phony, bullying Marauders. Was one mistake worse than the other? The whole point of life was to make mistakes and learn from them, wasn't it?

He knew he had been in love with Lily since their fourth year, but lacking confidence he'd never told her and then things had spun completely out of control their fifth year. Although he had severed his association with the Voldemort sympathizers right after the incident fifth year, Lily had never known of it because she chose to surround herself with her fellow housemates and so only heard their views. He knew Alice had tried to tell Lily the things she was hearing from their housemates about him were false, but she thought Alice was naïve and easily deceived. Wasn't dating Potter and eventually getting engaged to him a normal outcome of constantly hearing dirt about him from her housemates just as his slipping and calling her a Mudblood was a normal outcome of hanging around with people who believed such crap? Was keeping Lily at arm's length because he was afraid of having his heart ripped in two again reason enough to condemn himself a life of isolation? He trusted her to watch his back when they were on patrol so why couldn't he trust her with his heart also?

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. "Mr. Severus? Tita has lunch in the dining room or she can bring it up to you if you wishes."

"Thank you, Tita, but I'll come down," he called. He got up from the couch and went downstairs into the dining room. It seemed weird to be having lunch at a formal table meant to sit at least fourteen people, but the food was excellent. His grandparents had moved from their picture frames in the library to their empty picture frames in the dining room and chatted amicably with him and each other.

He stayed two days at Witches Moon and after bidding his grandparents' goodbye moved on to Alltyr Eryr that was located at the base of the Cambrian Mountains in Wales. The nearest city was Welshpool with a population of a little over 6200, but that was still quite a distance if you couldn't apparate. Fortunately, there was no need to go there unless you were looking for a spot of fun. Alltyr Eryr was self-sufficient. The house was smaller than Witches Moon having only ten rooms, but was built of sturdy rock and the living room contained a large fireplace with an ornate mantle. His room here was smaller, but was warm and comfortable. The house contained five house elves; the head elf's name was Arian. After two days there he visited his final house in Scotland. It was located between Loch Ness and Inverness, but close enough to Loch Ness that he could do a bit of Nessie watching from the third floor of his home if he wanted. He suspected Nessie might be a relative of the Giant Squid that inhabited the Black Lake at Hogwarts. 'Rough Stones' like his other homes, was built of stones native to the area. Also like his other homes it was self-sufficient so there was no need to go into Inverness unless he wanted to shop for personal things. There were twelve house elves and the head elf was a female named Jinty. They were diligent in their duties and in taking care of him. The house was warm and comfortable and more than adequately protected against the harsh Scottish winters. He left on the Saturday before Easter and apparated back to Spinner's end.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Lily and Alice were having lunch at the tea shop in the Ministry. "Boy this is nice and just what I needed," Alice exclaimed. "It seems like all I do anymore is sleep, eat and study."

"I know what you mean," Lily sympathized.

"I don't even get to see much of Frank anymore," Alice complained. "So, have you seen Sev? Potter was complaining after the Ministry Ball about you being there with Severus."

"Sev's been away most of the week, but I don't know where and I don't care what that git thinks!" Lily snapped. "I'm a free woman and I can go out with anybody I want to!"

"That's what I told the moron when he was complaining in class. Is Sev still resistant to any romantic involvement?"

"I don't think he is as much as he was since we've been on patrol together a lot. After all, he trusts me to watch his back and I trust him to watch mine, but I think both of us are still too nervous about taking our relationship a step up," Lily sighed. "I wish I'd accepted his apology that night and then went back to the common room and kicked moron Potter's stupid arse right into the Black Lake!"

"Wouldn't have worked," Alice said. "The Giant Squid would have just spit him back out!"

"Did I hear somebody mention my name?" James inquired plunking down in the chair closest to Lily's. Sirius pulled a chair up that another wizard was just going to sit down on and sat down on it backwards.

"Only if you answer to hey moron," Lily replied sarcastically. "Damn! We should have gone to the Leaky Cauldron and then we wouldn't have been bothered by them. Tom banned them indefinitely.

"So I heard. I also heard somebody cast a hilarious hex on the morons and they ended up with a boot kicking each of their arses."

You should have seen it!" Lily laughed. "Potter must have thought it was a Bludger and was dodging all over the place trying to avoid it, but he couldn't!"

"Ah …ladies, we're right here," James said in a hurt tone.

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you the best news," Lily said pretending Potter and Black weren't even there. "Sev's going to apprentice with Nicolas Flamel once he finishes college."

"That fantastic!" Alice exclaimed. "I remember Slughorn saying he hadn't taken an apprentice in like fifty years."

"Flamel won't take Snivellus once he finds out how dark he is," James stated.

"For your information, Potter; it's already a done deal!" Lily snapped.

"Flamel must have been a Slytherin then. Snakes love snakes," He sneered.

"Flamel never went to Hogwarts, idiot! He was born in France!" Alice said rolling her eyes.

"A greasy frog and a greasy snake - the perfect combination, Prongs!" Sirius hooted.

James and Sirius were so busy laughing that they didn't see Lily pull out her wand and do a non-verbal, '_Decresco_!'

James' and Sirius' chairs suddenly shrank and they found themselves laying sprawled on the floor. "Come on, Alice. I've pretty much lost my appetite," Lily said stepping around James

"Me, too," Alice said stepping over Sirius and deliberately stepping on his hand. "Ouch! Watch where you're putting your big feet, Warwick!" Sirius snarled.

"Watch where you're laying about, Black!" Alice snapped back.

They left and apparated to Diagon Alley where both of them planned to do some shopping.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus came over for Easter dinner on Sunday, bringing with him an unusual non-magical plant for Iris that he'd discovered in the conservatory at Witches Moon.

"Thank you, Sev," Iris said giving him a kiss. "I've never seen this particular plant before."

"Well, it only grows up north on the moors so it's mostly inaccessible," Severus replied as he sat down at the table next to Vernon.

Severus described his trip and Vernon talked about Grunnings expanding so they'd be able to hire 100 more people. Lily told everybody about hers and Alice's run-in with Potter and Black at the Ministry tea shop and how she had shrank their chairs causing them to fall flat on their backs.

"I hope they were mightily embarrassed!" Petunia said laughing. "But I suppose that's too much to hope for with them."

Petunia and Vernon left after dinner to go to his parents' home and Richard was helping Iris clear up. Severus got up to leave and then stopped suddenly. "Lily, I was wondering if you'd like to go to dinner with me next Saturday …umm …as my date?"

"I'd love to, Sev," Lily replied. "Where and what time?" At his confused expression she explained, "So I know what to wear."

"Oh, of course!" Severus said. "I thought that new restaurant in Diagon Alley, The Golden Unicorn. One of my professors was talking about it and said the food's really good. Will 6:30 be all right?"

"Perfect!" Lily assured him. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "I'm really looking forward to next Saturday.

In the kitchen Richard was washing dishes while Iris was drying and putting them away. "I'm worried about this obsession Potter has with Lily. He won't take no for an answer and leave her alone."

"You don't think he might do something desperate, do you?" Iris asked worriedly.

"He's a bloody stalker and who knows what he might do!" Richard growled. "I know Lily can take care of herself, but I'm going to have a talk with Sev, Kingsley, and her other friend, Remus about keeping an eye on her."

**A/N: **I borrowed the idea of Severus apprenticing with Nicolas Flamel from the fiction 'Second Start' by the 8thweasleykid. If you aren't already reading it, you should.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 12**

Richard was a good as his word and he did talk to Severus, Kingsley, and Remus. The three of them promised to keep an eye on Lily, but not let her know she was being watched.

Severus picked Lily up at 6:30. He wore nice, but casual clothes (before he left Regulus had insisted on going into Muggle London and helping him buy an entire new wardrobe) and Lily wore a nice, but not fancy, mini-dress of mint green that complimented her hair. They flooed to the Golden Unicorn and were seated by the maître de in a prime place near the front windows.

Lily glanced at the menu and when she saw the prices she got a bit worried wondering if Sev could afford it. She didn't want him bankrupting himself on her account, but she couldn't inquire about his finances either and risk offending him.

Severus smiled to himself as he witnessed Lily emotional struggle. He knew she was worried that it might strain his budget. He probably should tell her about his inheritance. "Lily, I wouldn't have taken you to this restaurant if I couldn't afford it."

Lily put down her menu blushing. "Was I that obvious?"

"Only to someone who knows you. Go ahead and order whatever you want."

"Okay, if you're sure, Sev."

"I'm sure."

When the waiter appeared they gave him their orders and he poured them each a glass of red wine. Lily took a sip noting that the bouquet was excellent. She'd learned a bit about wine from Potter's mother.

As they ate they chatted about school mostly and about Severus' future apprenticeship with Nicolas Flamel.

"I'm so excited for you, Sev!" Lily said; her green eyes sparkled like newly polished emeralds. "I remember Slughorn telling us that he rarely took apprentices."

"I still can't believe he sought me out on his own. I know Dumbledore wouldn't have told him about me or Slughorn for that matter."

"You did win those two prestigious awards at graduation and it was in the _**Prophet**_ so he probably saw it there and decided to investigate you further before he offered you the apprenticeship."

Severus nodded. "I hadn't thought of that."

"You should give yourself more credit," Lily scolded him gently.

After dessert they strolled around Diagon Alley holding hands. They stopped in front of Ollivander's. "Do you remember the day we first got our wands, Lily. I was so excited I hardly slept the night before."

"I remember being scared that no wand would choose me," Lily confessed. "It took quite a few tries before I found mine."

I think it only took two tries for me," Severus replied. "I remember Ollivander saying I must have a talent for potions."

"He was right!" She laughed. "Nobody would have ever guessed you'd be apprenticing with Nicolas Flamel back then."

They apparated back home and ended up in the neighborhood park across the street from Lily's home, sitting on the swings. "Seems like we've spent half our lives so far sitting on these swings," Severus remarked pushing himself back and forth with the toe of his shoes. "Remember when you used to swing really high and then jump off at the highest point and scare the crap out of Tuney?"

"And then she'd run across the street screaming for mum!' Lily laughed.

Severus was quiet for a moment and then said. "There's something I need to tell you. Your mum and dad already know, but nobody else does. Last summer Zort, the goblin who takes care of the Prince estate informed me that I had inherited the entire estate. Apparently, my grandfather left the estate to his younger brother. Zort tried to locate him or any heirs for four years, but was unable so he apparently died without issue. In the event the goblins couldn't find him, my grandfather left the decision regarding the estate up to Zort and he decided I would be the heir rather than let it go out of the family altogether."

"Sev, that wonderful! Your mum would have been really happy for you."

"Yeah, I wish she was still alive to see it," Severus said with a sigh. He did really miss his mum even though she been absent emotionally through most of his teenage years, he had strong memories of her from his childhood – before Tobias had beaten the life out of her. "By the way, I never thanked you for coming to her funeral even though we weren't speaking at the time."

Lily looked down at the ground in embarrassment. Eileen had died suddenly from an unusually severe case of Wizard's Flu at the beginning of their sixth year and her mum had had to shame her into going to the funeral. She remembered her parents being really disgusted with her about her attitude. "It's okay, Sev. I know you would have done the same for me."

"Would you like to go out again next weekend? Maybe we can go to a movie. We haven't been to a movie since our fourth year," Severus said. He recalled that's when things started going bad between them

"I'd enjoy that, Sev. I'll look at the paper and let you know what's playing and we can decide what movie we want to see."

Severus walked her to the front door, gave her a very chaste kiss and waited until she was safely inside the house before walking back to his own house. He stopped and looked around carefully before he went through his wards and into his home.

The next day Severus sat in the college library with Boris, Kaemon, April, Michelle, and Colleen and they were discussing their plans for the summer. Boris and Kaemon, Colleen, and Michelle were going home rather than taking summer classes. Kaemon was anxious to see his family again. His younger brother would be graduating from the Institute of Magic and his younger sister would be starting her first year at the Magical Academy for Witches. Boris was looking forward to seeing his parents and his fiancée, Tatiana. Michelle would be traveling with her parents to the United States to visit relatives and Colleen was looking forward to the roseoftralee International Festival in Kerry

"It's probably Ireland's biggest festival," she explained. "Me mam, da, brothers and sisters have gone every year since I was a wee tot."

"Vhat are you going to do, Severus?" Boris asked.

"I'm doing an independent study with Professor Charles Michaelsen called 'Arithmancy and Potions.' Professor Michaelsen is a Muggleborn American wizard from California who's on sabbatical from University of California. I've read about him and he's as brilliant in Muggle mathematics as well as Arithmancy. I'm really looking forward to working with him."

"How about you, April?" Colleen asked.

"I'm just going to kick back and hang out," April answered.

"Well, we just have another two weeks of classes, exams, and then we'll be done," Severus remarked.

He and Lily spent most of their time studying for their exams and quizzing each other on possible exam questions. Severus also spent time studying his Arithmancy textbook, redoing the problems and figuring out new theories that could supply the same answers in preparation for his independent study with Professor Michaelsen. He was also reading books and everything else he could find on Alchemy.

Severus and Lily went to _Monty Python's The Life of Brian_ on Saturday night. They both thought it was hilarious in light of some people thinking it was irreverent, sacrilegious or even blasphemous.

When they returned to Severus' house Arthur's Patronus suddenly appeared and announced, "Emergency meeting at the Burrow tomorrow night at eight."

"Something important must be happening," Severus surmised.

At eight o'clock everybody gathered at the Burrow. After everybody was settled with tea and snacks, Moody spoke, "I have reliable information from one of my snitches that Voldemort is planning to attack the Muggle village of Royalty Mews tomorrow evening."

"Where's that located?" Benjy asked.

"It a few miles past the London city lines. It a small town of about 600 or so Muggles," Moody answered. "From what my source tells me; Voldemort is planning to decimate the entire town. He's sending in his Death Eaters to wipe out every man, woman and child there, but we're going to be there to stop them."

"What about the clown patrol?" Edgar asked. "Does Dawlish have access to the same information as you, Alastor?"

Moody shook his head. "He doesn't have the resources I have and he's too lazy to develop any. That's why he's perfect for Dumbledore's group."

"There is a condition attached though," Arthur warned. "If the Order does show up, all of us who aren't Aurors will need to disapparate immediately. We can't afford to be seen by any of them and take the chance of You-Know-Who finding out about us. We've been most effective because nobody knows anything about us."

Aberforth chuckled. "Albus is already madder than a wet cat about us stealing his thunder; him and his group of glory seekers. They aren't interested in saving anybody from Death Eaters; they're only interested in getting their mugs on the front page of the _**Prophet**_."

Everybody, dressed in camouflage and disillusioned, apparated outside the small village of Royalty Mews a few at a time starting at seven o'clock. By seven thirty they were all situated in and around the village and not a moment too soon as Death Eaters began appearing in clouds of black smoke.

Moody, Kingsley, Ned, Frank led the attack dressed in their red and blue Auror robes. The rest fought with all the spells in their arsenal. Alice stunned a Death Eater who was aiming the killing curse at a small child. Lily spelled another one with the toenail hex and then stunned him when he began tripping over his fast growing toenail; others bound the ones that fell and took off the hexes. Filius was dueling a Death Eater twice his size and getting the better of him without any problem. Suddenly they heard Kingsley amplified voice, "Incoming clown patrol! Everybody disapparate now!"

Severus and the others quickly disapparated as per Arthur's instructions leaving the fight to the Aurors.

The next morning's _**Prophet**_ had a big picture of the Order members on the front page and the article was an account of how they saved the village of Royalty Mews from certain death.

"What a bunch of goat crap!" Aberforth remarked to Moody as he leaned on the bar reading the _**Prophet**_. "The only reason they were able to 'succeed' was because we already kicked their arses."

"Yeah, it does say they had _some_ help from Aurors," Moody said wryly. "I'm surprised he admitted that much. What Albus doesn't realize is he's making his people a conveniently large target for Voldemort."

Aberforth snorted, dropping the paper and pouring Moody and himself another shot of Ogden's Best Firewhiskey. "Albus thinks he knows everything; nobody can tell him a bloody thing and he's been like that as far back as I can remember."

"Well, he might be in for a shock if Voldemort starts targeting the Order members."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

We beat them!" James crowded holding up a copy of the _**Prophet**_. "We're back on the front page. We saved that village and we captured the Death Eaters!"

He and Sirius we're having breakfast with Albus and Elphias Doge in Albus' office. Albus grinned, "Come now, James. We did have a bit of help from Alastor, Kingsley, Mr. Crockford, and Mr. Longbottom."

"The Death Eaters ran like scared rats when they saw us coming," Sirius said. "You heard all those cracks of people disapparating when we first arrived? They knew they were in for a fight and took off."

"I was hoping to catch Snivellus. I'll bet he was there and he was probably the first one to disapparte when we arrived," James said.

"Yes, that's probably why wouldn't agree to spy for me. After all, I won't allow him to kill and Voldemort does."

"We'll get him," Sirius said. "It's only a matter of time."

"Yeah, and I'm going to rub Lily's face in it when we do!" James said.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Once exams were over and college was out for the summer, Iris and Lily were involved in the final preparations for Petunia's wedding. Severus attended Regulus' graduation. Even though he'd sworn he'd never set foot in Hogwarts again after his own graduation; Reg was like the younger brother he'd never had and he didn't want to hurt his feelings. He knew he wouldn't run into Potter or Black since Sirius had been completely estranged from his family since about fifth year and wouldn't come to Reg's graduation and neither would his best mate.

Petunia's wedding took place on a beautiful Saturday morning the second weekend in June, at the church Mr. and Mrs. Evans had attended since they had moved to the area before either of the girls were born. Petunia looked beautiful as she walked down the aisle on her father's arm. Lily and Vernon's sister, Marge were Petunia's bridesmaids and two of Vernon's friends were his best man and groomsman. Severus sat with Richard and Iris. After the wedding dinner and dance, the happy couple left for their honeymoon. They would be in Paris for a week and living in Little Whinging in Surrey when they returned.

"I really miss Tuney," Lily confessed to Severus as they were sitting out on the porch swing a few days after the wedding. "We've become really close over the last year and I miss her level head and common sense."

"I know it's not the same, but you can still write or phone her and I'm sure she and Vernon will be up to visit fairly regularly," Severus replied.

"I know, but I never appreciated her until this last year. I was always so wrapped up in myself while we were at Hogwarts."

"Well, at least you and Tuney did bridge the gap and that's what's really important." Severus cleared his throat. "I'm going to Witch's Moon for a few days before I start my Independent Study with Professor Michaelsen and my other classes."

Lily was surprised, but replied, "It's good you'll have a few days to relax before you start your Independent Study and other classes."

"Actually, I'd like you to come with me …umm ...that is if your parents don't mind."

"Sev, I _am_ nineteen and I don't need my parents' permission anymore. I'll let Mr. Blotts know tomorrow that I'll be gone for a few days."

As it turned out neither Iris nor Richard had any objections to Lily going with Severus to visit his home in the Yorkshire Moors. Severus and Lily flooed to the Dragon Tail Inn and then Severus side-along apparated Lily to the front gates of Witches Moon. "I know you can't see anything but the moor, but the house is actually right in front of you." He opened the gate with the oval moonstone medallion and walked Lily through.

She gasped when she saw the house. "Sev, this is so elegant looking. Next to this Potter Manor looks tacky and junky."

They walked across the courtyard and to the front door. Severus used the medallion to open the front door. "The house and grounds are warded and unplottable and that's why it can't be seen by Muggles or anyone else. The only reason I can see it is because I'm the heir."

"So even You-Know-Who or his Death Eaters can't see it?"

"Correct," Severus replied.

Tita popped into the entrance hall where they were standing. "Mr. Severus, you is having to let Tita know when you is coming," she scolded him. "So we elves can be ready."

"Sorry, Tita," Severus apologized. "I'm not used to having house elves yet so it's going to take me awhile to remember to inform you when I'm going to be visiting. This is Miss Lily Evans. Would you please show her to her room and then show her where the library is?"

"Yes, Mr. Severus. Tita will call the others to get you's and Miss Lily's luggage upstairs."

"Thanks, Tita," he replied heading towards the library while Lily followed Tita upstairs.

"Hello, Severus," Tiberius said as he came in.

"We're so glad to see you again," his grandmother, Audra added.

"How is college?" Tiberius asked

"Great! I'm taking an Independent Study called Arithmancy and Potions with an American Professor. I'm also going to be taking a couple of classes as I want to finish college early. I'm anxious to start my apprenticeship with Master Flamel."

"Now don't go overboard with studying, Severus," his grandmother warned. "You need to be sure you make time to relax and enjoy yourself."

Lily came in at that moment. "Sev?"

Audra smiled. "Well, I can see you don't need my warning. Hello, my dear."

"Hello," Lily replied uncertainly.

"Lily, these are my grandparents, Tiberius Maxmillian Prince and Audra Isabella Prince. This Lily Evans who lives by me and who I first met when I was nine."

"It's nice to meet you," Lily said. "Sev's the one who told me I was a witch."

"So you are a Muggleborn?" Tiberius asked interestedly.

"Yes. I hope that's not a problem?" Lily asked tentatively.

"No, no, of course not," Tiberius assured her. "They were several Muggleborns in my class when I attended Hogwarts and they were excellent students and all went on to have very successful careers. I don't believe any of this propaganda being spread that Muggleborns are less talented than Purebloods."

"Lily was the top witch in our class and Head Girl," Severus said.

"Well, that certainly bodes well for our grandchildren," Audra replied.

Lily blushed and Severus turned red and muttered. "We're just dating right now." He excused himself to go and search the library shelves for books on Arithmancy. Lily followed him as he moved from shelf to shelf looking at the books and finally finding a couple of books that looked interesting he pulled them off the shelf and they left the library under his grandparents' watchful eyes.

"What on earth was that about?" Lily asked as they sat down in the living room.

Severus sighed. "I expect they're concerned about an heir since I'm the only Prince left. I imagine that's why grandparents let Zort decide what to do with the trust if he wasn't able to find my great uncle or his heirs. He must have known Zort would give it to me rather than let it go out of the family."

"That seems a strange way to do things, Sev," Lily remarked.

"I suppose they were ashamed of the way they treated my mum and they just didn't know how to make it right so they chose to do it in a roundabout way."

"I'm glad they did because you deserve it," Lily said squeezing his hand.

"The estate actually includes two other manor houses; they're not as big as this one, but still comfortable. One's in Wales near Welshpool and its called Alltyr Eryr and the other one's in Scotland near Inverness, but close enough to Loch Ness to do a spot of Nessie watching from my upstairs windows if I wanted to."

Severus spent a couple of hours in his sitting room reading and taking notes on the Arithmancy books he'd found in the library. Lily coaxed him into going outside after lunch and exploring the grounds. She was able to see a lake from her room and wanted a closer look at it. There was a 22-room guest house that was built of the same grey stone as the main house plus three green houses. The lake was a small one and Lily watched as a couple of swans and a family of ducks swam around in it. Up the hill from the lake was a gazebo painted white with a red tile roof.

"It's really beautiful here, Sev. Do your other houses have scenery like this?"

"Yes. The house in Wales sits at the base of the Cambrian Mountains and its surrounded by a forest. The house near Loch Ness is in an area that's still pretty much unspoiled despite all the Nessie watchers."

"Maybe you'll show them to me sometime," she said as they walked back to the house hand-in-hand.

"Maybe sometime this summer I could," Severus answered.

Dinner was served at six o'clock in the formal dining room. Severus' grandparents elected to remain in the library after Audra convinced her husband that the young couple 'needed time alone.' After dinner Severus and Lily sat on cushions on the floor in the living room playing 'Old Maid' and 'Go Fish' with a deck of Muggle cards Severus had found and laughing hysterically.

"Merlin! I haven't played these for years and I'd forgotten how much fun they are," Severus confessed with a grin. They had been taught the games by Lily's father who had spent some time in the States during the war.

"Remember when Tuney used to play with us and how mad she'd get when she ended up with the Old Maid?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, she never did have much of a sense of humor back then," he commented. "I remember she always wanted to play 'Go Fish' because she was better at that."

"And how she never wanted to play Twister™ because somebody might catch a glimpse of her underwear!" Lily laughed.

"Somebody meaning me?" Severus replied laughing as he shuffled the cards. "Even as a kid I had better things to do than try and sneak a peek at Tuney's underwear."

Lily giggled. "Well, Tuney's really changed and she doesn't act hateful towards us anymore. I think having someone who worships the ground she walks on helped lessen her antagonism about my being magical."

"Well, it's good she found somebody who really cares about her." Severus suddenly noticed how much closer to him Lily had moved and just as suddenly Lily put her arms around his neck, pulled his face closer to hers and kissed him. "Sev, I've been self-righteous, judgmental, and wasted so much time! I don't want to waste anymore."

"I've let my pride get in the way and I don't want to waste anymore time either!" Severus agreed. They continued doing some serious snogging.

The next morning an owl brought the _**Prophet**_. Usually, Witch's Moon didn't receive a copy because there was no one to read it, but Severus had his forwarded here while he was in residence. The front page had another big splash about the doings of the Order of the Phoenix. They had, or so Dumbledore claimed, prevented an attack on Hogsmeade. Severus chuckled and handed the paper to Lily. "I can just hear Aberforth snorting!"

"No doubt," Lily agreed. "How do we even know there actually _was_ an attack planned on Hogsmeade?"

"We don't, but I'm sure Moody will have plenty to say about it at the next meeting."

As he had promised Regulus Severus took him to the meeting of Weasley's Warriors. He was accepted into their ranks immediately and willingly swore a Wizard's Oath that he would not reveal any information about them. Some of the members were suspicious at first of the fact he was Sirius' brother, but Reg soon proved himself an able fighter and able to follow rules rather than being a loose cannon like his brother.

The next meeting of Weasley's Warriors took place two nights after Severus and Lily returned from Witch's Moon. It was held at The Hog's Head after closing time.

"I imagine everybody saw the _**Prophet**_ three days ago," Moody said.

"Kind of hard to miss it," Aberforth snorted. "If there was going to be an attack here I would have known because I have my own sources and they would have let me know if there was an attack planned."

"Albus _is_ and always _was_ a windbag," Edgar complained.

"I've verified with my sources that there wasn't any attack on Hogsmeade planned _ever_, but there _is_ an attack being planned on Diagon Alley most likely during the last week of August during the busiest week in the year aside from Christmas."

"The week before Hogwarts starts," Severus said flatly. "The Alley will be filled with Muggles shopping for school supplies for their Muggleborn kids."

"Not just Muggles and Muggleborns," Arthur said. "But so-called blood traitors and half-bloods - all the people Voldemort despises," Arthur added.

"Right you both are," Moody replied. "It'll be a massacre!"

"We'll be there to stop it, won't we?" Lily asked anxiously.

"You can bet on it, but I suggest we all start practicing to make sure our defense and spell work is top notch because we don't know if Voldemort might be there himself and if he is, we're going to capture him."

"What about the clown patrol?" Frank sneered. "They won't miss an opportunity for glory!"

"I don't doubt they'll be there, too," Moody replied. "We Aurors will be in uniform, but the rest of you will have to make it look as if you're there for a specific reason."

"Lily and I both work there; Filius and Remus could be there ordering books for their classes." Severus said.

"Arthur and I work at the Ministry so we don't need a reason to be there," Edgar said. "We could be having lunch there, Arthur along with Benjy."

"I could be at Magical Menagerie buying supplies for my goats," Aberforth decided.

"Alice and I could just happen to be visiting Lily at Flourish & Blotts," Molly said. Alice nodded in agreement.

"And I could be there buying my textbooks for college," April decided.

"Good!" Moody nodded. "Right now I don't know what day it might be or the time, but as I find out more I'll send everybody my Patronus."

Severus was enjoying his independent study with Professor Michaelsen and even brought him to the Evans' house for dinner one night. He was short with longish dark, curly hair, dark eyes, a rather large nose, and warm, cheerful smile. He talked about his father and brother. His father was a Wardsmith in Los Angeles and he was responsible for keeping the wards in the Wizarding section in good repair. His older brother was an Auror, but also worked with the FBI. Everybody enjoyed having him as a guest and Iris invited him to come back again before he returned to California.

Severus also visited Nicolas and Perenelle several times as the summer wore on and he brought Lily to their house in Kent.

"So, you're the mysterious woman in Severus life," Perenelle teased.

Lily blushed, offered Perenelle her hand, and said, "It's very nice to meet you and Master Flamel."

"Please call me Perenelle, Lily," she requested, taking Lily's hand. "Mrs. Flamel makes me feel old."

Perenelle took them on a tour of Flamel Manor after which they enjoyed a wonderful dinner and listened to Nicolas tell fascinating stories about 16th century England. When they returned to Severus' home they spent a lot of time snogging.

Everybody was working hard on their defensive and offensive spells. Severus, Remus and Lily worked together often joined by Reg, Kingsley and April.

Moody sent out his Patronus letting everyone know that the target date for the attack on Diagon Alley was to be August 27. It would be the busiest day in the Alley other than Christmas because that was traditionally when the Hogwarts shopping was done. At a meeting in late July, it was decided they would floo into the Alley; some using the Leaky Cauldron and other using the Ministry. Severus could floo in using either Gringotts or Slug & Jiggers.

"It's not going to easy," Arthur warned at their next meeting. "Remember it will be crowded with innocent shoppers and we'll have to very careful where we aim our spells."

"Most likely the Death Eaters will be arriving different ways," Severus said. "I think some of them will be coming through Knockturn Alley so we should probably station some people at the head of it. Most will probably be arriving in their usual fashion since Voldemort's intent is to terrorize."

"If Voldemort does make an appearance remember - he's our main target," Alastor added. "Forget the rest of the Death Eaters. If the clown patrol comes; they can deal with them."

Severus finished with his Independent Study with Professor Michaelsen and realized with a start he only had a few classes left, mostly independent studies, and then he would be finished with college. He would probably be finished by Christmas and could begin his apprenticeship with the Nicolas and Perenelle.

August 27th arrived and Weasley's Warriors situated themselves in various spots along the length of Diagon Alley. Severus, Remus, Lily, and Ned chose to the mouth of Knockturn Alley. They were planning to stun any Death Eaters coming out of any of the stores located in Knockturn Alley. They wore robes to blend in better.

By ten o'clock the alley was pretty crowded. The shops were crowded and families were strolling along enjoying the nice weather. Suddenly screams were heard nearest Ollivander's as Death Eaters began apparating into the Alley in clouds of black smoke. People grabbed their children and ran frantically in search of a safe place. Some pushed, shoved and trampled others in their haste to get away.

Severus, Lily, Ned, and Remus disillusioned themselves. Severus stunned and bound a Death Eater coming out of Borgin and Burke's. Ned cast a jelly-legs jinx at another who was attempting to grab a Muggle woman in front of Madam Malkin's. Lily cast the _Furnunculus_ curse at a Death Eater who was chasing a young girl while Remus cast Severus' _Comburo Irrito_ hex at one who was aiming a curse at teen-aged boy. He watched in satisfaction as the Death Eater dropped his wand and began howling, dancing around, and scratching himself crazily.

"You cannot escape from Lord Voldemort," a loud voice suddenly announced. It appeared to fill the Alley from one end to the other. "Pureblood wizards I urge you to join me and we will punish the Mudbloods who steal our magic and exterminate the Muggles like the vermin they are!"

There was an increase in the volume of screaming as frightened people dropped to their knees and covering their ears.

Remus was huddled down with his hands clamped over his ears and looking very pale because of his more sensitive hearing.

"Where the hell is he?" Ned muttered looking around.

Remus took a chance, stood up and quickly glanced up and around. The same Lycanthropy that turned him into a raging monster once a month also gave him excellent vision and hearing. "He's up on top of Gringotts!"

Ned looked amazed, but hand signaled Moody and Kingsley who were directly across the street from Gringotts. They disillusioned themselves, ran across the street to Gringotts and disappeared inside the door.

"We got more trouble," Alice said darting into Knockturn Alley from her station at Magical Menagerie. She pointed up at the sky where two brooms could be seen heading towards the Alley. Without further words she disapparated to Ollivander's to help Frank and Reg who was fighting two Death Eaters.

Remus looked upwards. "It's James and Sirius. Looks as if the Order has arrived."

Right on cue, McKinnon, MacDonald, and Professor McGonagall stepped out of the passage way leading to the Leaky Cauldron and started firing spells at any Death Eater they spotted. The Death Eaters were not going to stand for this and increased their curses as both parties moved further down the street closer to Knockturn Alley.

Albus briefly apparated into the street in front of Gringotts and hearing the firefight on the roof immediately disapparated.

Filius and Arthur who had just finished getting several Muggles into a safe place moved to help the witches. The spells and curses flew hitting the building around Severus, Lily, Ned, and Remus, taking out large chunks of stone.

"Come on, we need to move before we get hit!" Severus yelled, taking Lily's arm. They bent low and ran and ended up crouching in the doorway of an empty store next the ice cream parlor. Ned and Remus were crouched in the doorway of the ice cream parlor.

James and Sirius were flying above. Sirius reached over, jogged James' arm and pointed at the store where Severus was. "There's Snivellus. I'll cast a blasting curse, knock him out and we can finally capture the Death Eater scum!"

"Wait! He's got Lily!" James yelled, pulling on Sirius' wand hand. "He's probably using her as protection."

"What do you want to do then? We can't let the greasy git get away!"

"I'll fly down, grab Lily, pull her onto my broom and fly out and as soon as I do you can cast the blasting curse."

Sirius nodded and watched as James flew down and landed. He grabbed Lily's arm and pulled her to her feet. She in turn slapped him across his face and began struggling to break his grip. "Let go of me, you stupid arse or I'll hex your nuts off!" She yelled.

Severus grabbed James, whirled him around and kicked his arse so hard he went flying out into the middle of the street on his face.

"_Confringo_!" Sirius yelled aiming his wand at the store. The resulting blast took out the store window and much of the interior and threw Severus and Lily out into the middle of the street.

**A/N: **Due to the new rules on FF regarding M-rated fics and the **asswipes **in Literate Union, Critics United, and Lawlclan who have made it their "duty" to "clean up" fan fiction, I am going to be setting up an alternative site on The Writer's Coffee Shop for my stories. In case my account is deleted I will be posting there under the same name, Alethea27. Literate Union is nothing more than a bunch of cyber-bullies and harassers hiding behind the label of reviewers! They use their reviews not to improve the fics, but to attack the authors. If you don't agree with what's happening to FF I have a link on my profile for a petition. Please feel free to sign it. Thanks!


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: **All previous disclaimers apply.

**A/N:** I've made some changes to the previous chapter in order to keep the plot running smoothly so you may want to go back and read that before you read this chapter.

**Chapter 13**

Healers and other medical personnel from St. Mungo's crowded Diagon Alley treating people for shock and other minor injuries such as cuts and bruises.

One of them leaned over Severus who was floating in and out of consciousness. "Can you tell me your name?"

Severus blinked thinking it was a dumb question. "Sev…erus …Snape."

"All right, Severus. You have a broken shoulder, a few fractured ribs plus a broken arm, and a concussion. We're going to get you to St. Mungo's and get you fixed up."

Severus tried to roll over, but the pain was too intense. "Lily …"

"Your wife's already been taken to St. Mungo's and you'll see her there. Were you trapped by Death Eaters? I need to ask in case there might be other curses."

"No …explosion …Potter and Black caused …threw us into street."

"Okay, we're going to transport you now, Severus, but I'm going to spell a pain reliever into you first."

Severus nodded. He allowed himself to drift off and was unconscious by the time they had summoned a stretcher to transport him.

St Mungo's was extremely busy treating people who had been injured in the attack. The healer who had come in with Severus stopped one of the other healers and asked, "I need to know about this guy's wife," he said pointing at Severus. "She was transported before him; a redhead about 19 or 20. He was asking for her."

"Yes, she didn't have any identification on her. She's in pretty bad shape; has a fractured skull, broken arm, and leg. They're healing her right now."

"Okay. Her name's Lily Snape by the way."

"Good to know. I'll let administration know in case anybody else comes looking for her," he replied as he made his way to the waiting room that was crowded with injured people. "Hell of a day!" He remarked

"You got that right, but I think we've got most of the seriously injured transported. Most of the serious damage was caused by some fool named Black casting a blasting curse. Will people never learn you can't cast spells like that in close quarters?"

"Apparently not."

When Severus woke up he found Kingsley sitting by his bedside. "Lily …"

"Take it easy, Sev. She in the room next to you. The healer says she's still unconscious, but doing fine."

"Did somebody tell the Evans' what happened?"

"Arthur flooed over to tell them and brought them to St. Mungo's. Her sister came up from Surrey too."

"Good. I wouldn't want them worrying. Did we catch You-Know-Who?"

"Unfortunately no. Moody and I were keeping him pretty busy; we were both dueling him, but then Dumbledore apparated up there and everything went to hell and he got away."

"Naturally. Black cast that blasting curse at the store where Lily and I were taking refuge. Remus and Ned were in the doorway of Fortescue's. Are they all right?"

"Yes, they have some minor cuts and bruises from flying debris, but otherwise they're fine. Some people taking refuge inside Fortescue's were injured when the wall Fortescue's shared with that empty store collapsed due to Black's blasting curse."

"I suppose Potter and Black will get off scot free as usual," Severus sneered.

"No," Kingsley answered chuckling. "Scrimgeour, Moody, and McLachlan all gave them hell! Scrimgeour told them doesn't matter who they come with; if there are Aurors present they're to report to whatever Auror's in charge and take their marching orders from him or her. Moody reamed Black a new one for throwing that blasting curse in a populated area, saying it was lucky nobody was killed because he might find himself sitting in a cell at the Ministry. McLachlan suspended them from class for a week and warned them they're in grave danger of being dismissed from the Auror program."

"I expect about now they're both at Potter Manor consoling themselves by blaming it all on me," Severus said. He threw back the covers and attempted to get out of bed, but Kingsley stopped him. "Hold on there, Sev. Ian says you've got a concussion and you need to stay off your feet for a few days."

"I just want to see Lily. Are you going to help me or not?"

"It's against my better judgment, but you'll do it anyway and I don't want Ian yelling at me if you fall on your face so yes, I'll help you," Kingsley grumbled.

"Thank you. I really do appreciate you helping me even if I'm not in the best of moods." Severus said as he donned a robe and slippers and with help from Kingsley made his way to Lily's room. He was shocked to see the name Lily Snape on the door outside of her room.

Kingsley chuckled. "I guess the healers got the impression somehow that Lily was your wife and since you were both unconscious and couldn't correct them it stayed."

"Maybe Potter will try and visit, see it and have heart failure," Severus smirked.

"We can only hope," Kingsley added.

Severus opened the door to Lily's room and Kingsley helped him inside. He pulled out his wand. "Accio chair." A chair slid over and he helped Severus sit down. "I'll wait outside."

"Thanks, Kingsley."

Lily was so pale that her freckles stood out and Severus could almost count them. He held her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I want you to know, Lily that I _do_ love you; I loved you since I first met you when we were nine and I will _always _love you no matter what."

At the sound of his voice, Lily stirred and her eyelids flickered. "Sev?"

"Right here," He said giving her hand a squeeze.

"Thought …we we're …going to be …killed."

"Arsehole Black and his bloody blasting curse," Severus swore. "But him and Potter didn't get away with it this time. They got reamed by Scrimgeour, Moody and their instructor at the Academy who suspended them from class and told them they were in grave danger of being dismissed from the Auror program. I'm sure Dumbledore will run there like his ass was on fire to try and get them excused by saying they were with the Order, but it won't work. Scrimgeour told them when there's Auror present no matter who they come with they have to report to the Auror in charge and take orders from them."

Lily laughed weakly. "I'll bet that burned their bums. All their chances for glory shot down by Rufus Scrimgeour."

"Undoubtedly," Severus replied. He wondered if she'd heard what he'd said previously.

"When will we be getting out of here?" Lily asked.

"I think they might let me go tomorrow, but you'll probably be here a day or two more. Why?"

Lily took his hand. "Because when I get out I want us to be together …really together."

"You mean …?" Severus started to say, but Lily cut him off. "Yes! That's exactly what I mean."

"Are you sure?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life except that I love you and I want us to be together. Do you feel the same way, Sev?"

"Always," Severus assured her.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

**"**Merlin beard!" Sirius swore. "I used to think Moody was pretty smart, but Snivellus sure pulled the wool over his eyes!"

"I think he's losing it in his old age. Can't spot a Death Eater that's right in front of his face!" James complained. "Scrimgeour ought to retire the old coot! He's outworn his usefulness!"

They were in the library of Potter Manor. James was reclined on the couch and Sirius was draped over his favorite squashy chair. There was a meal the house elf had brought spread out on the coffee table.

"Scrimgeour should be canned too! He never should have gotten the position in the first place since he's from Slytherin and he'll look the other way when anybody from his former house does something criminal like Snivellus," Sirius sneered.

"Yeah! He's got Lily completely fooled. He must be sneaking Amortentia into her food and drink. She wouldn't look at him otherwise, the ugly git!"

Sirius chuckled. "Yeah, that's the only way he can possibly get a girl!" He stopped laughing and said, "How are we going into get back to the Academy?"

"I contacted Albus and he's going to see the Minister. We should be back in no time." James said confidently. "We're the best Aurors-in-training they have so they're going to be real sorry McLachlan suspended us!"

"Yeah! And that dumb wart Scrimgeour. Imagine him telling us we have to take orders from some cuckoo like Moody or dumb bum like Longbum and Crapford!" Sirius complained. He looked at the clock. "I thought Wormtail was supposed to be here tonight."

"He owled me earlier and said his dad was working him later since it's stays light longer."

"He ought to get his own place. His dad treats him like a house elf!" Sirius declared. "Did you see Remus yesterday?"

"Yeah, he was huddling in the doorway of Fortescue's with Crapford," James replied.

"He was probably with Flitwick picking out his books for the new school year. I saw Flitwick dueling a couple of Death Eaters when we first flew into the Alley."

"Molly jumped me about what happened to Lily and Snivellus. She said I was an immature, irresponsible, bully and threatened to send me to St. Mungo's with a broken nose! She never said a word about me being kicked out into the middle of the street by Snivellus and my bum still hurts!"

"Well, Fab and Gid say she's turned into a major snake lover and that she's a disgrace to Gryffindor house!"

"Arthur, too!" James said. "For some reason which I don't understand both he and Molly have become really fond of Snivellus!"

"Beats me the hell out of me what they see in the greasy git!" Sirius said.

A Potter house elf popped suddenly into the library and announced, "Mr. Pettigrew has come."

"Well show him in," James ordered. "Don't stand there like a nitwit!"

"Yes, Master James," the elf replied with a bow.

Peter walked into the library seconds later. His eyes lit up at the spread on the table. That was his favorite reason for coming to Potter Manor. The food was delicious and there was always plenty of it. "Sorry, I'm late, guys, but the old man wouldn't let me go any earlier," He explained as he sat down and began making himself a double-decker sandwich.

"No problem, Pete. We were just discussing how to get back at Snivellus," James answered.

"My favorite person," Peter replied. Actually he hated Snivellus more than the Dark Lord did. He'd made a fool of him many times and Peter wanted his payback. "What did you have in mind for the git?" He asked taking a big bite out of his sandwich."

"Actually it's something I have in mind for him _and_ Lily. When she hears what I have to say about Snivvy she'll come running back to me so fast, begging me to take her back."

"Then you can kick her in her face and lay down the law," Sirius said making himself the same sandwich as Wormtail. If there was one thing Wormtail definitely knew; it was good food.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus was dismissed from the hospital the next day. Reg who was now a healer-in-training had been to visit him several times. He promised to come and visit him in a few days. Severus flooed home and noticed right away that Iris had apparently cleaned while he'd been in the hospital. He heard squawking coming from upstairs and realized Poseidon knew he was home again. He went up to see him and scratched his head. "I guess you missed me." It looked as if Iris had also cleaned his cage and given him fresh water. "Iris always takes such good care of you and probably spoils you rotten."

He looked around his bedroom. It was very masculine in appearance and he wondered if he should some add some things to it that would make it appear more feminine, but then decided not to as Iris might start wondering why he changed it. He sat down on his bed imagining what it would be like to make love with Lily. He had no idea what her level of sexual experience might be. He had some. He'd had a year mate who like him was a Half-Blood and in love with her best friend in Ravenclaw. They'd had a brief fling sixth year that he'd ended when he encouraged her to talk to her friend and tell him how she felt about him. '_It was too bad I never took my own advice,_' Severus reflected, '_and told Lily how I felt about her our fourth year. A lot of the ugliness that occurred during the next year might have been averted.'_ He got up and went downstairs and into the kitchen. He wondered if he should take Lily out or have a romantic dinner here. He was a pretty decent cook and Iris had given him a couple of cookbooks which he hadn't really had time to look through yet. He pulled them both off a small shelf under his cupboard, sat down at his table and began leafing through them. He had been working on recipe ideas for about 45 minutes when he heard his floo sound. "Mr. Regulus Black is requesting entrance."

"Allow him to come through," Severus replied.

Reg stepped out of the fireplace, brushing himself off. "I thought I'd see how you are."

"Better than I was a few days ago no thanks to your stupid brother and his blasting curse."

"Dad had a fit when he heard about Siri used a blasting curse in a populated area. He said in all the years he's been an Auror he's never heard of anybody doing such a stupidly asinine thing!"

Severus remained silent and kept his thoughts to himself, but he was certain Black was attempting to kill him. Hadn't he tried once already and gotten away with it? "I won't have to worry about your idiot brother as I'll be be graduating from college in December and then I'll start my apprenticeship with Master Flamel after the holidays."

"So, when you finish your apprenticeship and receive your mastery, you'll be what …twenty-one? Do you realize that will make you the youngest Potion Master ever in Wizarding Britain?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," Severus replied with a shrug. "Are you staying for dinner? I believe I have a Sheppard's Pie that Iris made while I was in the hospital. I'll put it in the oven and while that's cooking we can talk."

"What are you doing out here?" Reg asked noticing the cookbooks and sheets of parchment covered in Severus' spidery handwriting.

"Umm …planning a romantic dinner," Severus muttered.

Reg stared at him for a minute and then asked, "You and Evans?"

"Yes," Severus answered gathering up the parchment. He piled that and the cookbooks on the dining room table and then turned on the oven.

"So what are you planning to have?"

"French Onion Soup to start with and a salad," Severus said as he got the Sheppard's Pie out of the refrigerator and put it into the oven. He got the salad makings out of the refrigerator as he talked and started putting together a salad.

"Can't go wrong there," Reg commented.

"For the main course I'm thinking about Brie Stuffed Pork Chops and Baby Shallot Potatoes."

"Well, you've got my mouth watering. What about something to drink?"

"A Merlot from the wine cellar of Witches Moon."

"And dessert?"

"I was thinking of a dark chocolate trifle of some kind."

"Sounds so good to me I may come over and join you." At the look Severus gave him, he held up both his hands. "Only joking, Sev!"

"Do you think …Lily would find that romantic?" Severus asked hesitantly as he put the salad bowl in the middle of the table and started setting the table.

"I don't know about Evans, but most girls would find a guy cooking an entire meal for them to be _very_ romantic."

Severus took the Sheppard's Pie out of the oven and set it in middle of the table while Reg made tea. They helped themselves to the food and began eating. "There was something I wanted to ask you."

"Healer Reg is always here to listen to your problems," Reg joked again. He had been admitted to the healer training program at St. Mungo's and would began his training next week.

"You know your brother belongs to Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix?"

"Yeah, the git was always bragging about belonging to some secret group that was fighting You-Know-Who. We heard something about it at school; that Dumbledore was recruiting the Gryffindors, even the ones who are crappy at Defense, into it. We had much better fighters in Slytherin, but he wouldn't have anything to do with us."

"Actually, the Order of the Phoenix spilt up months ago because of internal disagreements and another defense group was formed by the ones that split from the Order and they accept anyone who's interested in fighting You-Know-Who. I'm a member of it. If you're interested in joining I can bring you to the next meeting."

"Hell yes!" Reg exclaimed. "I want to fight You-Know-Who as much as anybody else! Why should I not be allowed to fight just because I was sorted into Slytherin?"

"My feelings exactly," Severus replied. "This new group is headed by Arthur Weasley. We have three Aurors who are members. We captured a lot of the Death Eaters that the Order's taken credit for. We keep a low profile because we don't want You-Know-Who to suspect there's another group. He knows nothing about us."

"Okay, let me know immediately the next time you're going to have a meeting."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Millicent Bagnold was seated at her desk in her office at the Ministry of Magic, quill in hand, signing a stack of papers all due to the blasting curse Sirius Black hurled in the middle of Diagon Alley. If she had her way, Black would be thrown out of the Auror program and Potter right after him! She trusted that Rufus had trimmed his and Potter's wings so they wouldn't get out of line again without serious consequences.

There was a knock on the door and she looked up to find Albus with his usual genial expression and twinkling eyes standing in the doorway of her office. "Minister, may I have a few minutes of your time?"

"Unless this is Wizengamot business – no!"

"I would just like to say Rufus suspension of James and Sirius is unfair. They did nothing wrong. It was Snape who threw the blasting curse."

"I see. Let me get this straight, Albus. Mr. Snape cast a blasting curse so he could be thrown out into the middle of the street, breaking his shoulder, his arm, some ribs, and giving himself a concussion. Why? So he could prove how much he enjoys pain?"

"Of course not, Minister. He was covering up the fact that he was there as a Death Eater."

"And of course all the witnesses who reported seeing Black hurl the curse or heard him yell _Confringo_ were all confunded or lying?"

Albus eyes hardened. "No, it would be impossible to confound everyone. What I'm suggesting is they were very frightened and were mistaken in what they thought they saw."

"I see." Minister Bagnold leaned back in her chair. "Do you think I'm stupid, Albus?"

"Of course not, Minister," Albus replied hastily. He had no intention of offending her because that would not help James and Sirius.

"Before I awarded Mr. Snape the Order of Merlin, First Class I had him thoroughly vetted as I do all of the Order of Merlin candidates. Do you know what I found – nothing. When we spoke with some of your professors they told us he was quiet, brilliant, and protected the younger children no matter what house from bullies. They also said he was ceaselessly bullied by a group of boys calling themselves the 'Marauders' and that you turned a blind eye to it. This is the same group I've had to listen to Barty complain about bullying his son for the last four years and strangely enough, they were led by James Potter and Sirius Black."

Albus started to say something, but Minister Bagnold held up her hand. "I will not reverse Rufus' decision regarding Mr. Black and Mr. Potter. In fact, if I had my way they would be dismissed from the Auror program."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Lily had been out of the hospital for three days and had flooed over to Severus' house at his invitation. She stepped out of the fireplace and siphoned the ashes off her with her wand. "Sev?" The house smelled wonderful. Lily was dressed simply in a pale green sundress; she was bare-legged and wore brown rope sandals. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

"In the kitchen, Lily," he called back.

She walked through the dining room and saw the table had an expensive linen tablecloth over it and was set with white candles and a vase of oriental lilies that were crimson with white edgings was sitting between the two place settings. She went into the kitchen where Severus was dishing up the meal. "Whatever you've prepared smells absolutely wonderful."

"Thank you," he smiled. "I hope it tastes as wonderful as it smells." He brought the soup and the salad into the dining room and placed them on the table beside the place setting. There was also a platter of slices of hot, crusty French bread. He lit the candles and then seated Lily and sat down next to her.

"Sev, this was absolutely delicious!" Lily declared as Severus cleared the first course. "Maybe you ought to think about being a chef instead of a Potion Master," she teased.

"As long as I didn't have to cook for anybody and could just stay in my kitchen inventing new recipes, maybe," Severus joked as he bought in the main course.

"Where on earth did you learn to cook like this?" Lily asked taking a bite of her pork chop. "I'm willing to bet you could out cook Julia Child."

"Mum taught me the basics. That's what we would do a lot of times when Tobias was out on a two week drunk. I figured out the rest on my own. It's not that much different from potions really as far as specific measurements and adding the ingredients in a certain order."

"Mum and Tuney always say I can't boil water without burning it."

"Maybe I can teach you. You were really good at potions and as I said before cooking isn't that much different so I don't see why you couldn't learn." He got up from the table and started to clear the table. "Would you like dessert now or would you rather wait awhile?"

"I'd like dessert – only not the kind you have in the refrigerator." She took both of his hands in hers and tugged him towards the stairway.

"Hmm …I think I'm going to enjoy this dessert even better." Severus said.

**_Later_**

Lily giggled as she ran down the stairs, pulling Severus along behind her. "Hurry up, Sev! I'm starving!" She was dressed in one of Severus' shirts and was barefoot.

Severus laughed as he followed her down the stairs. He was wearing jeans, a T-shirt and was barefoot also "That trifle's not going anywhere, Lily unless Reg snuck in and ate it while we we're otherwise occupied."

"Remember when we were kids and you'd stay over at my house and we'd sneak downstairs in the middle of the night to raid the cookie jar?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, we'd be creeping along the hallway afraid Tuney might wake up, hear us and tattle."

Severus got the trifle out of the refrigerator and rather than dishing it out, they each had a spoon and ate directly from the bowl. "Mmm! This is fabulous, Sev!" Lily said licking her spoon.

Severus smiled at her enthusiasm. He reached over and wiped a smudge of chocolate from her lip. "Reg was over earlier this week. I told him about our defense group and he wants to join so I'm going to bring him to our next meeting."

"I recall him being really good at defense at Hogwarts," Lily commented. "I'm sure Arthur will be happy to have him."

"I'm glad dinner turned out good. I've been sweating over it for days," Severus confessed, changing the subject.

Lily put her hand over his. "Everything was perfect, Sev …everything."

**A/N: Due to the new rules at FF and the asswipes in Literary Union, Critics United, and Lawlclan who patrol this site looking for imagined reasons to cause trouble, there will not be any explicit sex, only implied sex. You'll just have to use your imagination, I guess. :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **All previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 14**

Severus was up early the next morning. Even though he'd gotten little sleep the night before and was up at one in the morning pigging out on dark chocolate trifle he still felt energized. Lily was still asleep when he'd gotten up; she had always been a late riser. He thought he'd surprise her with breakfast in bed. He scrambled eggs, fried bacon, sausages, and potatoes. He made toast and brewed tea, piled it all on a big tray and carried it carefully upstairs. He kicked the door open with his foot and set the tray down on the table near the window. He went over to the bed and leaned over Lily and gently shook her shoulder. Lily opened her eyes and smiled as she saw him. "Good morning, Sev."

"Good morning, sleepyhead. Breakfast is ready if you are."

"I am," Lily rolled over on her back and stretched. The covers slipped down revealing her beautiful breasts. "But you shouldn't wait on me like this or you'll spoil me."

Severus fixed a plate for her and handed it to her along with a fork and a napkin. He set her tea on the nightstand. "Maybe, I want to spoil you."

"Aren't you having any? Come here and join me. It's your bed after all."

"After last night I think it's _our_ bed now," he teased carrying over a plate and his tea and stretching out beside her.

Even though she had her own plate, she leaned against him and snitched food off of his plate. "This is so nice, Sev. I wish I didn't have to be to work at ten."

"I wish I didn't need to be to work either, but there are still a lot of people doing their Hogwarts shopping so I'm still assembling first year potion kits. I think the Aurors being plainly visible everywhere has people feeling more secure."

"The bookstore's been really busy too. I imagine You-Know-Who's attack did dampen the enthusiasm for shopping in Diagon Alley, but now that Hogwarts is starting in a couple of days, people have to get their kid's school supplies. I suppose a lot of people who could afford it, owl-ordered theirs." Lily threw back the covers and got out of bed. "I'm going to take a shower." She went into the bathroom and then peeked out again. "Care to join me?"

"Definitely," Severus said.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

James and Sirius strutted into class late as if their being suspended for a week was no big deal and interrupted their instructor's lecture. They sat down at desks in the back of the room.

McLachlan frowned at them, but continued his lecture. When class ended, he said in a loud voice, "Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, please stay behind."

James and Sirius looked at each other and Sirius shrugged. "I suppose we'd better hear what the git has to say," he muttered.

McLachlan crossed his arms and glared at them. "I would think after being suspended for a week you gentlemen might be on time your first day back to class."

"We met to be, Sir, but …" James started to say, but McLachlan held up his hand, "Save it, Mr. Potter. I'm well aware you and Mr. Black think yourselves above the rules. Everybody in the entire Auror Corp has to obey the rules with the exception of you two. You can fly into a populated area hurling blasting curses left and right, hoping you might get one Death Eater amongst all the other people in the crowd without any consequences. I'm also aware that your mentor, Dumbledore, went to the Minister and tried to get your suspension overturned. Fortunately she wasn't impressed with Dumbledore's lame excuses."

Well, the Minister couldn't catch You-Know-Who even if he was walking around Diagon Alley wearing a big 'Most Wanted' sign, a flashing torch on his head, and dragging a dead Muggle behind him," Sirius growled.

"Save it, Black. Your opinion frankly counts for nothing. My concern is to teach you the legalities of being an Auror and if you don't learn that, then you're not much use. As I said before, you two are on the verge of being expelled from the Auror Academy and if you don't do some really fast shaping up, that is exactly what will happen." McLachlan turned and went back into his classroom to get ready for his next class.

"Can you believe that guy, Padfoot?" James complained, "We're out there risking our lives fighting You-Know-Who for worthless arses like him and do we get any respect – no!"

"Maybe, we should just dump this and see if we can become Hit Wizards, Prongs," Sirius suggested.

"No way, Padfoot," James answered. "Aurors are the elite forces – everything else is crap."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus was busy assembling potion kits. It appeared the first year class this year was going to be large at the rate they were selling them. In addition he unpacked the potion ingredients that had arrived, placing them into the proper bottles and jars. It was a long day as sometimes he was called up front to help at the cash register. At five o'clock he bid his employers goodnight and walked down the street to Flourish & Blotts.

Lily was just finishing up straightening some shelves when she saw Severus and waved. "Let me get my purse and I'll be right with you."

Severus nodded and wandered over to the Potion section to see if there were any new books that caught his fancy. He was looking through one when Lily came back and tapped his arm. "Ready to go, Sev?"

He smiled and put the book back on the shelf. "Ready. It was a long day today and we were really busy."

"We were too. As usual Hogwarts has a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and he ordered different books for his classes. I don't know why they all can't use the same books," Lily complained.

Severus shrugged as he took hold of her hand. "I guess because one book might not include all the things he or she might want to teach."

"I guess that could be it," Lily agreed.

"I thought we could floo to your home from Gringotts. I don't really want to go into the Leaky Cauldron and run into Potter and Black."

"I don't either, but why are we flooing to my house?"

"I thought your parents might like to know you're okay since you didn't come home last night," Severus said with a grin.

"They knew I was with you so they probably weren't worried," Lily replied.

"Still and all …"

"All right, Sev. We'll floo to my house, but then we're going back to your place afterwards," Lily said.

"Fine by me."

They went to Gringotts and took the floo to Lily's home. When they stepped out of the fireplace Iris was waiting to greet them. She gave Severus a hug and Lily a kiss. "You're father isn't home yet so dinner will be a little later than normal."

"Okay, Mum. I'm going to run upstairs and change and then I'll be down to help you," Lily said. She was back downstairs in fifteen minutes. She wore jeans, a t-shirt, her rope sandals and had her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Severus followed her out into the kitchen to see if he could help with anything. Iris asked him if he would set the table for her.

Lily was preparing the salad when her mum said softly just loud enough for Lily to hear, "Your father and I had a talk last night. He said I should leave it alone as you and Sev both adults and I decided he was right, but I just want to make sure everything's all right."

"Everything's fine, Mum," Lily assured her. "Sev loves me and I love him. We're living in dangerous times right now not only just because of You-Know-Who, but because of stupid twits throwing blasting curses around. We just don't want to waste anymore time."

"Well, I'm glad it's Sev you chosen and not that horrible James Potter. All I can say is he'd better not show his face around here or your father may get out his service revolver."

"Dad won't have to because I'll cast Sev's boot kicking hex on him again. I know the incantation now," Lily smirked.

Richard coming home interrupted their talk. "Sorry, I'm late, but there was an accident and I had to wait until it got sorted," he explained as he gave Iris a kiss.

"Quite all right, dear," Iris replied. "Lily and Sev just got here."

"I'll go up and shower and get changed," Richard said.

Lily helped her mum get the food on the table while Severus was hovering nervously about. It was his idea to come over, but he wished he knew what Richard and Iris were thinking.

Richard came down, rubbing his hands together. "Smells good! Roast pork, my favorite and no Potter or Black to ruin my digestion. Perfect!"

Severus seated Lily and Iris while Richard carved the roast. They filled their plates and everyone enjoyed the meal. "So Sev, are you going to be finished with college this year?" Richard asked.

"Yes, I should be finished before Christmas and then I start my apprenticeship with Master Flamel the first of the year. Fortunately apprentices no longer need to move in with their masters so I can floo to the Flamel house in Kent. They don't bond us or mark us anymore either. I think the Guild Masters felt it was too reminiscent of what You-Know-Who does to his followers. In fact, that's probably where he got the idea."

"When Sev receives his Potion Mastery in another year, he'll be the youngest Potion Master in Wizarding Britain ever," Lily said proudly.

"That's definitely something to be proud of, Sev," Iris said.

After a dessert of peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream, Lily helped her mum clean up. Severus cleared his throat and said, "Richard, can I speak with you out on the front porch for a moment?'

"Certainly, Sev," Richard answered.

They went outside and Severus said nervously, "I just want you to know that Lily is and will always be my first priority; I would never hurt her and once I get my mastery I am planning to ask her to marry me."

"I never had any doubts about you, Sev not like I did about Potter. I never liked that pompous, arrogant idiot from the first moment Lily brought him home to meet us nor those two friends of his. The only one of them I like is Remus. He seems really nice and never had a mean word to say about you unlike those other three fools."

"Thank you for telling me this," Severus said.

"Thank you for letting me know your intentions, Sev."

Severus flooed back home and Lily came shortly after him. "I had a talk with mum and dad and they're all right with where our relationship is at now," Lily said.

"I had a talk with your dad too and I told him you would always be my first priority and that I would never hurt you. He thanked me for telling him."

Lily smiled. "Well, now that we've got that solved …" She took Severus' hand.

"I see you have something else in mind for us to solve," he teased

"Definitely!"

They both started classes at the College of Potions two days later. As the month wore on Severus began noticing more of Lily's clothes were in his closet, her makeup on his dresser, her personal items joined his in his bathroom, and even her feminine products were in a drawer in the vanity. He would stumble over her pumps getting out of bed in the mornings that she left lying in the middle of the floor the night before.

They were still patrolling and watching the old Riddle mansion in Little Hangleton, but nothing was really happening.

"Reckon we put a scare into You-Know-Who that day in Diagon Alley," Alastor said. "He's laying low for awhile and keeping his head down."

Everybody with the exception of Dumbledore was now referring to Voldemort as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who because Voldemort must have put a spell on his name and when people said it, snatchers appeared, grabbed them and they were never seen again.

"Dumbledore can afford to say his real name because he's secure behind a wall of wards and snatchers certainly aren't going to apparate into his office and grab him," Arthur remarked.

"It's a good thing neither You-Know-Who or the Order hasn't found out about us yet," Severus remarked.

"Well, that's because we've been careful and cautious," Edgar said. "We not doing this for fame, glory or hero-worship, we're doing this to protect people."

"Right you are, Edgar," Filius said.

"We'll need to be patrolling Halloween night because my snitches have let me know that's when they're planning to attack again," Alastor said.

In October when Petunia and Vernon were over for Sunday dinner, Petunia had some happy news to announce. "Mum, Dad, and Lily, and Severus, I'm going to have a baby."

Iris, Richard and Lily were delighted and hugged Petunia to the point of practically smothering her.

Severus shook Vernon's hand and congratulated him. "What do you want a boy or a girl?"

"Pet and I don't care as long as she's okay and the baby's healthy," Vernon said.

"When are you due, Tuney?" Lily asked excitedly.

"The doctor says on or after June 23rd."

"We're so happy for you and Vernon, Petunia," Iris remarked and then remarked in shock, "My Lord! We're going to be grandparents, Rich!"

"I'm glad since both our girls are on their own now," he answered. "We need another youngster in the house."

"Wasn't that great new about Tuney," Lily asked as they were settled in bed.

"Yes, I'm really happy for her and I hope everything turns out okay."

"I can't wait to hold my new niece or nephew."

Halloween found the members of Weasley's Warriors back in their camouflage and patrolling. They didn't think Voldemort would attack Diagon Alley again even though all the stores were open and giving out candy. Nor did they believe he would attack either Ottery St. Catchpole nor Godric's Hallow. Weasley's Warriors situated themselves in the London Muggle neighborhoods in Knightsbridge, Chelsea, Mayfair, and Hampstead where the Muggle children would be trick or treating the heaviest. Sure enough Death Eaters, wands at ready apparated into the neighborhoods only to find their wands flying out of their hands and finding themselves the victims of the various hexes that the members of Weasley's Warriors employed. Many were able to disapparate, but they did catch a six of them. Moody had remained behind at Auror headquarters ready to go with a team to pick up the Death Eaters as soon as Scrimgeour informed them of their capture.

"I don't think they were You-Know-Who's best effort," Arthur said once they had all apparated back to the Burrow. "They really panicked when their wands started disappearing and they were getting hit by our hexes."

"We did prevent them from kidnapping or killing any of the Muggle children," Lily remarked. She shuddered as she thought about her soon-to-be niece or nephew being caught by Death Eaters.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Voldemort stormed around Riddle Manor throwing indiscriminate curses around not caring who he hit. "What happened, Avery?" He demanded. "This was a fairly simple assignment. Go to these Muggle neighborhoods, kill a few kids and come back here." His angry red eyes were fixed on Avery unblinkingly.

Avery shivered at that look. "I don't know, my lord. We couldn't see where they were and they used non-verbal spells first getting out wands then hitting us with all kind of hexes."

"I think Snape was there because I recognized that toenail growing hex as his. I remember when somebody did it to Potter and Black seventh year, but McGonagall and Dumbledore never discovered who did it," Wilkes offered.

"We had to get out of their fast or else we would have been caught," Yaxley said.

"What do you know of this group?" Voldemort snapped at his spy. "I don't know why I keep you when I have to find out everything second hand!"

"Dumbledore knows nothing of this other group and he too is frustrated by it because they're stealing the Order's thunder. Potter keeps complaining because the Order is getting pushed off the front page of the **_Prophet_**. Dawlish is useless because Moody won't tell him anything."

"It's seems I no longer need to worry about the Order as it appears they have been effectively castrated, but what I do need is information on this new group. Yaxley and Avery, I'm putting you in charge of finding out information about this new group – check all your street sources and the snatchers."

"Yes, my lord," they replied bowing to kiss the hem of Voldemort's robe.

"Don't fail me or the consequences will be too terrible to imagine!"

"What about me?" The spy asked.

"Stay with the Order. Dumbledore's a wily old fox and he may find something out about this group before Yaxley and Avery do.

"I will do as you command," he answered and also kissed the hem of Voldemort's robe.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Lily was putting out new copies of a book Flourish & Blotts had just received when she spotted Potter strutting in dressed in the finest of wizarding fashion. "Pompous dandy!" Lily muttered to herself. What in the hell was he doing in Flourish & Blotts anyway; he'd never read a book in his life voluntarily. His visit did not bode well.

He came over with his usual smile and windblown hair. How could she ever think this pompous arse was the right man for her?

"Lily," he said nodding.

"What do you want, Potter? I assume it isn't a book since you've never read one without someone threatening you."

"Lily, I'm hurt," James complained. "I merely stopped by to ask if you would have a drink with me at the Leaky Cauldron when you're off work. I have a proposal I'd like to present."

"No, I'm not stupid, Potter and I certainly won't allow you to slip something into my drink or grab me and apparate me to Potter Manor. Say what you have to say and get out before I hex your bum off."

"All right. I want to announce that we're engaged again and we'll be married at Christmas time as we originally planned," James revealed.

"You're insane, Potter!" Lily replied in a bored tone. "I'd rather Avada Kedavra myself first!"

"If you don't agree to my terms," James warned. "I'll spread it around that Snivellus raped a girl at Hogwarts, but he was never brought to justice because the girl was too scared of him and his Death Eater buddies and dropped the charges."

Lily laughed. "Is that your best, Potter? Nobody would believe anything you say about Sev."

"I think they would, but they definitely will with Dumbledore's and McGonagall's testimony behind me."

"You mean they'd be willing to perjure themselves before the Wizengamot because Sev isn't going to take your blackmail lying down."

"By the time I get through with him Flamel will boot him out on his arse and he'll be lucky if he can find a job sweeping out an apothecary. You really want to risk Snivvy's reputation?" James asked smirking. "In addition to that, I _could_ visit your father's employer and pretend to be an enraged parent accusing him of molesting my nine year-old son."

"You miserable blackmailing sod!" Lily hissed. "Get out of here before I cast the worst hex I can think of on you!"

"Think about it, Lily. I'll give you two days."

When Lily came home she seemed distracted. Severus sensed something was bothering her and tried to find out what it was, but Lily assured him she was fine. After they made love, she remained awake trying to decide what she should do. She couldn't tell Sev because he'd kill Potter and she couldn't stand the thought of him being kissed by Dementors over Potter's worthless bum. She didn't know if she could tell her dad either. He might really get out his service revolver, but the thought of marrying Potter and being under his control made her gag too! She turned over and tried to go to sleep, but her eyes popped open suddenly as she remembered that in her worry about Potter, she'd forgotten to cast the contraceptive charm on herself. She had been casting it regularly so maybe it wouldn't matter if she forgot it one time. She'd have to check the book she'd purchased on magical contraception.

The next morning she had a later class and Sev had already left for his. She decided to floo over and talk to her parents. Her dad had taken the day off since today was her parents' anniversary. Her news would definitely put a damper on their celebration.

"Lily, what are you doing here?"

"I have a later class today Mum and I needed to talk with you and dad without Sev being around."

"Let's go into the kitchen and I'll fix a pot of tea. I always find that to be calming." Iris fixed the tea and then she and Richard sat down to hear what she had to say.

"Potter stopped in the bookstore yesterday," Lily began.

"Did that creep threaten you, Lily?" Richard demanded. "I always thought the son of a bitch was a sick stalker after he followed you around and kept asking you out even though you told him countless times you didn't like him and to get lost."

"He didn't threaten me, dad. He threatened Sev and you."

"What!" Iris exclaimed.

Lily told them about the threats Potter had made. "I don't know what to do. If Sev finds out about Potter's threats and that he's trying to blackmail me into marrying him, he'll kill him."

"What don't we call Mr. Moody and Mr. Shacklebolt and tell them what's Potter threatened. They're both honorable men and I'm sure they will do something about Potter," Iris said.

"Maybe, but I have to find a time when Sev is busy so he won't find out, but Potter only gave me two days to make a decision." Lily frowned. "I can stop by Auror headquarters after my last class today."

"All right, Lily, but be sure and let us know what's happening with this," Richard said.

"I will, Daddy," Lily promised.

After she left Iris poured Richard and herself another cup of tea, "She must be really upset; I haven't heard her call you daddy in quite awhile," Iris remarked.

"I hope they take some sort of action with that creep; at least kick him out of that school he's attending unless they allow law enforcement officials to commit blackmail in the wizarding world."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Lily hurried to Level Two of the Ministry hoping either Alastor or Kingsley would be in. Ned Crockford's desk was by the door. He rose as he saw Lily standing hesitantly in the doorway. "Lily, what brings you to Auror Headquarters? Not rethinking your decision to become a potion mistress?"

"No, Ned," Lily said with a smile. "I was hoping to catch Kingsley or Alastor."

"You're in luck; they're both in. Wouldn't you know; all the best looking girls always go for someone else," He joked. "Ah well, don't really want Sev to use me for target practice either." Ned led Lily back to Kingsley cubicle. "Hey, King, you've got a visitor."

"Thanks, Crock," Kingsley replied. He looked up from the papers he was reading and said, "Lily, what are you doing here?"

Lily sighed and sat down in a chair next to Kingsley desk. "Is Alastor in? I'd like you both to hear what I have to say."

"Follow me," Kingsley said and went down a hallway. Moody's office was much like himself. Stacks of paper were floating about continually rearranging themselves. Memos flew around the office waiting to be read. "Kingsley and Lily. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Kingsley cast a silencing spell over Moody's door. "Lily has something she needs to tell us."

"All right, Lily." He waved his wand at a stack of parchment sitting on one chair and it landed on top of a filing cabinet. "Go ahead and sit down. Now what can we do for you?"

Lily told them about her meeting with James Potter the previous day. "I just don't know what to do. He's threatening both Sev and my dad."

"In the first place, it's a violation of the Code of Secrecy to threaten a Muggle," Moody said. "Potter obviously hasn't been listening in class."

"Lily, do you know how to extract a memory?" Kingsley asked.

"Well, I know the theory, but I've never done it before. Why do you need this memory?"

"Because obviously Dumbledore will be running to Potter's rescue," Moody said. "He'll accuse you of making it up to get back at Potter."

"So we're going to save him the trouble by showing him this memory. Okay, first bring this memory to the forefront of your mind."

"That's easily enough done; it's all I've thought about all day." Lily closed her eyes and bought the memory to the front of her mind.

"Take your wand and put it to your head, say the spell _Extraho,_ and draw out the memory out."

Lily did what Kingsley told her and drew out several strands of a silvery substance and he put them in a vial. "You did really good, Lily."

"When will you talk to Potter? I have to give him an answer by tomorrow."

"We'll take this to Scrimgeour as soon as possible, Lily. How do you want us to contact you when Scrimgeour makes his decision?"

"You can contact me at my parents' house."

"Don't worry about anything, Lily," Moody said. "Potter's finished as an Auror and possibly as a free man."

**A/N:** **_Extraho -_ **to withdraw or extract.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 15**

Rufus Scrimgeour, the head of the Auror department, stared distastefully at the Pensieve he had just climbed out of that contained Lily's memory. "That is disgusting!" He spat. "Get Potter in here immediately, Mr. Moody."

"Right away, Rufus," Moody answered. He left the office.

"Never in all my time here in this department have I ever seen anyone act so disgracefully!" Scrimgeour said to Kingsley.

Moody was back within fifteen minutes dragging James into Scrimgeour's office. Rufus stood in front of the Pensieve blocking it from James' view. "Mr. Potter, Miss Lily Evans has filed a complaint with our department accusing you of attempting to blackmail her into marrying you by threatening to ruin the reputations of her father and her friend, Severus Snape if she refused you."

"I never did any such thing! She's a lying bitch and she's mad that when we broke up I didn't come running after her, begging her to take me back and she's jealous because I've found another girlfriend who's much better than her!"

"I don't think it was 'we', Boyo. As I recall Miss Evans dumped you," Moody said sarcastically.

"Mr. Potter, you may want to reconsider your statement," Rufus said stepping aside so James could see the Pensieve. "We have Miss Evans' memory of the incident and it is _not_ fraudulent."

"You may also want to contact your solicitor if you have one," Kingsley advised.

James look dumbfounded for a second. "This is all Snivellus' fault! He did something to her to make her change her mind about me! You're accusing me of this and you let that greasy Death Eater run around free!"

"Sev isn't a Death Eater, Potter," Kingsley snapped. "He never was and never will be."

"You weren't at school then. He hung around with all those creeps that eventually joined You-Know-Who and he was always hexing anybody who crossed his path! If Sirius and I hadn't been there to stop him, things would have been a lot worse," James sneered.

"This is all beside the point, Mr. Potter," Rufus said. "Mr. Snape is not the person being accused of blackmail. I am suspending you from the Academy pending further investigation and I am placing you under house arrest until further notice." He nodded at Moody and Kingsley. "You will escort Mr. Potter to Potter Manor and put up anti-escape wards around the house."

"You can't do this!" James yelled. "I'm heir to one of the richest and most influential Pureblood families in Wizarding Britain!"

"Get him out of my sight, gentleman," Scrimgeour growled.

Once James was hauled off by Moody and Kingsley, Scrimgeour walked to Level One to the Minister's office. "Just a head's up, Minister," Rufus said as he was comfortably seated in chair in the office and holding a cup of tea. "I suspended James Potter today and put him under house arrest pending further investigation. He's being accused of attempting to blackmail his ex-fiancée in a squalid endeavor to force her into marrying him. No doubt you will be receiving another visit from Dumbledore shortly. We do have Miss Evans memory of the incident that she willingly gave us."

"So Dumbledore basically doesn't have a leg to stand on," Minister Bagnold stated.

"Yes, but it will undoubtedly not stop him from trying," Rufus answered.

"I'd like to view that memory if I can, Rufus," Minister Bagnold said.

"Certainly, Minister if you will please follow me back to my office."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Moody stepped through the fireplace into the Evans' living room. Lily was having dinner with her parents as tonight was Sev's weekly dinner at the Leaky Cauldron with Kingsley.

"Mr. and Mrs. Evans, Lily," he said nodding. "Potter's been suspended from the Auror Academy and he's under house arrest pending further investigation."

"I know what house arrest means in our society, but what does it mean in yours?" Richard asked Moody.

"It means after we escorted Potter back to Potter Manor we put up wards, invisible walls, that he can't get through. He can't apparate, floo, or go through the wards with anybody else. Mrs. Potter and owls can get through them, but not Potter."

"What about the Potter house elves? If Potter or his mum order them to pop him somewhere else, they'll have to obey her," Lily said.

Moody shook his head. "This is a matter of law and while the elves are required to obey the Potter's otherwise, they're not in this case and we did warn them they're not to help him escape at either his order or Mrs. Potter's."

"How long will he be under house arrest?" Iris asked.

"Until his hearing is scheduled in front of the Wizengamot. He's not going to get off with a slap on the wrist this time," Moody assured them. "Attempting to blackmail a Muggle and trying to ruin another person's reputation are extremely serious offenses. He may not go to Azkaban, but he will be punished. He won't be flying around on a broom with the Order anymore throwing blasting curses around either."

"Mr. Moody, I was just going to put dinner on the table. Would you like to stay?"

"Yes, ma'am. It's not too often I get home cooking unless I stop by the Weasley's."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

When Severus stepped out of the floo in his living room, the room was dark except from the dying light of the fireplace, but he could just make out Lily sitting on the couch. "Lily, whatever are you doing sitting in the dark?"

"Could you please come over here and sit next to me, Sev?" Lily asked. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Okay," he answered, his heart starting to thump uncomfortably. Was this going to be the _'I love you, but I love James more'_ big breakup scene? If it was he was going to move in with Nicolas and Perenelle and then when he obtained his mastery he'd move to Russia and either work for Boris' parents or open an apothecary with Boris, or possibly with Kaemon in Japan, but he was never coming back to Britain.

Severus sat down stiffly next to her. "What is it?"

"I know I should have told you when it happened, but I was frightened you'd get so angry you'd kill Potter, be sent to Azkaban and be kissed by the Dementor's. Dumbledore would have made sure it happened."

"Lily, if you've decided to break-up with me and go back to Potter just spit it out and don't keep me dangling."

"Go back …to Potter? Are you nutters, Sev?" Lily demanded. "After that git tried to blackmail me into marrying him!"

"What?" Severus yelled jumping to his feet. "That lousy, rotten pile of dragon dung!"

"He said he spread it around that you were accused of raping a girl at Hogwarts, but she dropped the charges because she was afraid of you because you hung around with the Death Eater wanabees."

"That lying fuckhead!" Severus snarled. "How did he think he would get away with it?"

"He claimed Dumbledore and McGonagall would back him up."

"Perjure themselves in front of the Wizengamot? I don't think so."

"That's what I told him." Lily said. "He also threatened to call my dad's boss and pretend to be a parent and claim dad molested his son."

"That slimy git!" Severus hissed.

"I went to Auror Headquarters and told Alastor and Kingsley; I gave them my memory of the incident and they showed it to Scrimgeour. He suspended Potter from the Auror Academy and he has him under house arrest at Potter Manor." Lily laid her head on Severus' chest. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you when it happened."

"It's okay, Lily. You were right not to tell me. The truth is I do have a bad temper and I'd have probably cut off Potter's head and stuck it on a pike on the Tower Bridge, cut the rest of him up into little pieces and thrown them into the Thames." He kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry about it anymore, okay?"

"Okay," Lily agreed. "Christmas is coming, Sev. Are we going to get a Christmas tree?"

"I don't see why not and I'll bet your dad probably knows where the best tree lot is to buy one too."

"I'm sure he does."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Sirius was enraged when he heard what had happened to his best mate. That bitch Evans, no doubt at Snivellus' behest, tricked Prongs into doing something stupid.

"You gotta do something, Albus!" Sirius roared as he burst into Dumbledore's office, letting the door slam shut behind him. All the Order members knew the password to get past the Gargoyle. "You gotta find some way to discredit Evans."

"That will be rather difficult, Sirius as Miss Evans was a top student and head girl while she attended Hogwarts," Albus said mildly."

"You gotta do something, Albus!" Sirius persisted, flopping down into one of the squashy armchairs in front of Dumbledore's desk. "Otherwise the snakes' win and a Slytherin get one over on Albus Dumbledore."

"Yes, Rufus does seem rather single-minded in his campaign against James."

"Scrimgeour's been out to get us since the first day we started the academy!" Sirius snapped. "He doesn't like Gryffindors and doesn't want any of us as Aurors because he knows we don't corrupt easily. He wants all Slytherins so the Aurors will be ready to help You-Know-Who!"

"I can talk to Minister Bagnold and see if I can get James' suspension and other accusations dropped," Albus said.

"Ahh hell, Albus!" Sirius exclaimed. "She kisses the hem of Scrimgeour's robe!"

"Our only other option is the hearing before the Wizengamot. I _do_ have a great deal of influence there and I can almost certainly get the charges against James dropped. You and he are our best fighters in the Order so we cannot lose him."

"Damn right!"

With the wards around Potter Manor, Sirius knew he couldn't get in to see James, but he knew he could still receive owl mail. He wrote James a note detailing what he had done so far and sent it off to Potter Manor. He slumped down in his chair at his flat. He missed not being able to hang out at Potter Manor and plan how they were going to advance as Order members and Aurors. He missed their planning sessions of what they were going to do to Snivellus next.

There was a sudden knock on his door. Sirius was tempted to ignore it, figuring it was just Wormtail, but reluctantly got to his feet instead. If it _was_ Wormtail, he'd just keeping knocking; he was too dumb to take the hint that he wasn't in the mood for visitors right now. He pulled open the door to find Regulus, dressed in his light blue robes of a healer-in-training, standing in the hallway. He'd heard from somebody in the Order that Reg had started at St. Mungo's. He figured Reg would be busy kissing You-Know-Who's arse. "What do you want?" Sirius snapped.

"To come in and sit down for starters, Siri," Reg replied.

"I suppose," Sirius said walking away from the door and sitting down on the couch.

Reg came in, closing the door behind him. He sat down in a squashy armchair by the couch. "I'm not a Death Eater, Siri. I _might_ have been if Sev hadn't talked me out of it fourth year. He made me see what joining You-Know-Who would cost me." Sirius huffed at that, but made no other comment so Reg took it as a signal to continue. "I decided to become a healer and help people that have been cursed or tortured by You-Know-Who. Sev plans to work in the Experimental Potions department so he can invent potions to help with the same people."

"If you came here just to sing Snivellus' praises then you can walk right back out the door," Sirius sneered.

"I came here to try and talk some sense into you," Reg snapped. "Mum and dad are worried about you and no, I'm here on my own; they didn't ask me to come here."

"Why should they care what I do? They disowned me when I was sorted into Gryffindor."

"You disowned us after you ran off to live with the Potter's, but that doesn't mean mum and dad stopped caring about you. They haven't."

"Right now I've got other things on my mind," Sirius said.

Reg shook his head. If Siri wasn't careful he was going to end up just like Potter; facing dismissal from the Aurors and a possible appearance in front of the Wizengamot. He was tittering at the edge of precipice, but didn't seem to want to pull back. "You can't save Potter, Siri; he's already cooked his goose so don't let him cook yours along with his."

"What do you care?" Sirius sneered.

"I'm your brother that's why I care!" Reg snapped. He took a deep breath swearing that Sirius was not going to cause him to lose his temper and thereby giving him an excuse to kick him out. "Mum and dad would like you to come over for Christmas."

"Why would I want to spend Christmas with a bunch of dark wizards?" Sirius sneered. "You're probably having You-Know-Who as the guest of honor!"

"Have you completely taken leave of your senses, Siri?" Reg replied softly. "In case you've forgotten Dad's an Auror and he's been fighting You-Know-Who and his followers …"

"Who are all Slytherins," Sirius interrupted.

"Not all of them are," Reg said.

"The whole house in my year went over to Voldemort!"

"No, just the stupid ones like Avery, Wilkes, Rosier, Mulciber, Crabbe, and Goyle," Reg pointed out. "Barty Crouch, Jr. and a few other morons in my year. But as I was saying dad's been fighting You-Know-Who since his early days and he's seen a lot of the hideous things You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters have done."

"Mum probably would love to have him over for Christmas, along with Cygnus and Druella, Bella and Narcissa. They'll probably be the first ones to rush over and kiss his robe hem!"

"You know very well mum can't stand Uncle Cygnus and Aunt Druella, or Bella. She thinks they're all idiots, but she does feel sorry for Narcissa and Andie; Narcissa because she feels Cygnus gave her no choice in the matter of her marriage to Malfoy and Andie because she was disowned for marrying for love rather than power and Galleons. Mum hates how You-Know-Who has blackened Purebloods with his hate campaign and made us targets for everybody else's hate." Reg got up. "Well, it's obvious to me that nothing I say will change your mind so I'm off, but the Christmas invitation still stands if you want to come." He left Sirius' apartment, closing the door softly behind him.

Sirius kicked the largest textbook he had across the room. Why did Reg have to come anyway and start talking common sense and making him think about when they were kids? Why couldn't he just leave things as they were and let him hate his family in peace?

**Page ~*~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus and Lily went with Richard and Iris to get their Christmas tree the next Saturday. Richard knew all the best Christmas tree lots and they visited two before they found the perfect trees in the third one. Severus chose a 6 1/2-foot Scots pine for the living room and a smaller 4 ½ foot one for their bedroom. Richard chose one for him and Iris. All the trees were full with no bare spots or sagging branches. They got them home and Severus and Lily cast preservation charms on the trees so they wouldn't dry out, but would stay fresh and pliable. The next day Lily wanted to go to Diagon Alley to get lights and decorations for their trees. Severus was agreeable since Potter was still under house arrest and couldn't bother them. They bought strings of fairy lights, garland, and ornaments and took them back home. Petunia and Vernon were driving in on the morning of the 24th and staying overnight.

Severus wanted to get something really nice for Richard and Iris so he talked Lily into going to the appliance store with him. They looked at various appliances and decided on the latest in color televisions with a 22-inch screen. The store would deliver it on Christmas Eve morning. "Now dad, mum, Tuney and Vernon can watch the Queen's annual Christmas address on a bigger screen," Lily commented.

"And with better color too," Severus added.

The day before Christmas Eve, Severus and Lily decorated both their trees. Lily seemed a bit distracted, but Severus figured it was due to Mad-Eye having informed them that Potter's hearing in front of the Wizengamot was scheduled for January 3rd and she might be called as a witness. Moody didn't think so as they had her memories, but Potter's barrister might pull a fast one and demand that she testify. Severus also had news of his own that she might find quite upsetting. "Lily, I just had heard from the Flamel's today. They're going on a 3-month research trip to the continent, India, Russia, China, and Japan. I won't be back until the end of March or early April, but the good news is I don't leave until January 10th so I can be there for all or most of Potter's hearing."

"Sev, don't even think about not going with the Flamel's," Lily warned. "I'll be fine. I have mum, dad, Tuney and Vernon, Alice, Frank, and Remus to support me if I need any."

"Well, don't make it sound as if you don't need me at all," Severus joked.

Lily put her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest. "I'll always need you, Sev, _always_."

"I'm going to have my grandfather's best barrister, Reginald Winchester represent you at the hearing just in case." Severus said. He held up his hands. "No arguments. I know you can take care of yourself, but Potter and his supporters might get vicious and I want somebody there to protect you if they do. I'm also going to have Zort add your name to my account at Gringotts before I leave just in case you might need extra funds for something. I'll ask Zort if he'll go down to the vaults and take out the Galleons rather than you. I'm sure it won't be a problem."

"Sev, you don't have to do this, but since I already know your mind's made up, I won't argue. I'll just say thank you."

"You're welcome."

They continued decorating the Christmas trees and when they were finally finished, Lily waved her wand at each tree and lit the fairy lights. "Oh! Aren't they beautiful?"

"They are," Severus agreed, but he wasn't referring strictly to the trees.

Severus made a light supper while Lily worked on an assignment upstairs in Severus' study. She came back down just as he was putting the food on the dining room table. "Go ahead and sit down, Lily. I've got to run upstairs for a minute," Severus said. He was back in a few minutes carrying a large box wrapped in beautiful Christmas paper. "I was going to wait and give you this tomorrow, but I decided I couldn't wait." He set the box on the table in front of her.

Lily tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside was a slightly smaller box similarly wrapped. She tore the paper off of that to find another slightly smaller box inside. After she had unwrapped two smaller boxes, she finally found a black velvet box. "Oh!" She gasped holding the box.

"Open it," Severus urged.

Lily opened the box and found a beautiful engagement ring. It had a 14 karat gold twining band with a round emerald in the center surrounded by 14 diamonds and with ten smaller diamonds decorating each side of the twisted band. She was stunned; it was the most beautiful, unusual, and delicately crafted ring she'd ever seen.

Severus took the ring out of the box and went down on one knee beside her. "Lily Evans, I've loved you since I was nine. Would you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"Yes! Of course I will," Lily replied and he slid the ring on her left hand. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a passionate kiss. She held up her hand. "It's so beautiful. I love it."

"It's got a spell on it so it will always fit no matter what so you never have to worry about losing it."

They were going over to her parents' house for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day dinner. The next day was Boxing Day and he was invited for dinner at the Weasley's. He needed to stop over tomorrow and drop off their presents. He would ask if Lily could come with him; he was pretty certain that Molly would be thrilled when she found out they were engaged.

Severus went over to the Weasley's on Christmas Eve day to bring them their gifts. The kids were thrilled to see him and jumped all over him when he stepped out of the Floo. He didn't stay very long and after giving them his gifts, inquiring he if could bring a guest to dinner on Boxing Day, and wishing them all Happy Christmas he flooed back to his home When he and Lily went over to the Evans' house for Christmas Eve dinner, Severus received a hug so tight from Iris that he could barely breathe. Richard and Iris loved their new television set and were thrilled with the bigger screen and better color.

They announced their engagement and Iris cried, hugging them both and Richard, his eyes a bit wet looking, shook Severus' hand and kissed Lily's cheek. Lily showed everyone her ring. Petunia was thrilled; she and Lily went off into a long discussion about wedding gowns, colors, flowers, and wedding cakes. She hoped Lily was planning to have her wedding before her due date at the end of June.

They ate dinner and toasted the year with hot tea rather than an alcoholic drink as Petunia was unable to drink. "I just want to say that this year has been one of the best. Iris and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, Petunia got married to a fine young man and is now expecting our first grandchild and Lily has become engaged to another fine young man," Richard said. "We have a lot to be thankful for."

"Here, here!" Vernon said raising his cup in a salute.

After dinner they opened their gifts. Petunia had received a lot of things for the new baby. Severus and Lily stayed for awhile before going home. Lily looked at the pile of Christmas presents under the tree. "Do you want to open presents, Sev?"

"Let's open one now and then wait and open the rest on Christmas morning," Severus suggested.

"Okay," Lily said. She pulled a box out from under the tree and gave it to Severus. "Open this one."

"Okay," Severus replied with a smile. He slowly opened the gift, setting the wrapping paper aside. It was a flat wooden box and when he opened it, he found a set of five different sized crystal stirrers. "They're beautiful, Lily." He took one of them out of the box, running his long fingers over it. "I can't wait to try them." He handed her a package. "Open this one first,"

Lily tore off the wrapping paper enthusiastically and found a box from Twilfit & Tattings. Inside was a beautiful velvet dress robe exactly the color of her eyes and lined with a pale green silk. "Oh! Sev!" Lily gasped. "It's beautiful and it's so soft!" She stood up and tried it on and it fit her perfectly. "I love it!"

"You look beautiful in it too, Lily," Severus complimented her.

"Thanks, Sev." She took his hand. "Let's go to bed. The next two days will be very busy."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Reg and his parents were having Christmas breakfast in the dining room when they heard the Floo sound. Orion got up to see who it was. The house was decorated for Christmas and looked very nice. There was a big eight-foot tree in the living room decorated with fairy lights, ornaments, including ones Sirius and Regulus had made when they were kids, big green and red velvet bows, and garland. The mixed smells of cinnamon, nutmeg and roasting meat were mouthwatering. Christmas morning at the Black's always consisted of a full English breakfast.

Walburga rose from the table as did Reg when they thought they heard Sirius' voice in the living room. A moment later Orion came into the dining room with Sirius, looking somewhat sheepish, following behind him. "Sit down, Sirius," Orion grabbed a plate and began filling full of food and placed it in front of his son.

"Glad you could join us, Siri," Reg said lifting his glass of Christmas Wassail in salute.

Walburga smiled at Sirius. It was good to have all her family home for the holidays.

Orion wanted to speak to Sirius about the dangers of his continued association with James Potter, but decided he didn't want to spoil Christmas Day or Walla's pleasure in having her family around her. This was the first time Sirius had shown up for Christmas in seven years, He had either spent Christmas at Hogwarts or at the Potter's later on.

"Andromeda, Ted and Dora are coming over for dinner today. Dora is such a cute child and so funny," Walburga said.

"I wonder what color her hair will be today," Reg joked. "It will probably be pink."

"How come you're not on duty at St. Mungo's today?" Sirius asked Reg.

"Well, I only just started my training so I'm not required, but next year I'll probably be." He sighed. "My Trainer Healer says the Spell Damage department is always very busy on Christmas. Relatives hexing each other because they feel their gifts weren't of equal value or joke gifts that didn't work quite the way they were supposed to."

Orion shook his head. "Magical Law Enforcement always has a few family squabbles they have to break up. Usually it starts with too much Christmas Wassail and then rolls over into the price of a gifts or fights over Quidditch teams."

Sirius had to admit he'd enjoyed himself when he went home the night. It was always great seeing Andie and Ted and their five year-old Dora was hoot. Her hair color changed at least every five seconds depending on her mood. It had been much better than spending Christmas alone. Even Wormtail had a family to spend Christmas with. He had to admit if only to himself that he was glad he'd taken Reg up on his offer.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus and Lily also had a nice Christmas spent with her family. After dinner they all watched the Queen's Christmas address on the new television set. Boxing Day was spent at the Weasley's. Molly and Arthur were thrilled when Severus and Lily told them they were engaged. Molly had cooked a fabulous dinner of turkey, chicken, mashed and baked parsnips, mashed potatoes, a carrot pecan casserole, and apple pies for dessert. Lily ate until she felt as if she might explode, but it all tasted too delicious to turn down seconds.

Unfortunately, two days after New Year's Day was the start of Potter's hearing in front of the Wizengamot. Lily's parents and Petunia accompanied her to the Ministry. Severus and his barrister, Reginald Winchester met them outside the courtroom. "I don't expect this to be a long hearing. Potter's plainly guilty. The only reason this is a formal hearing is because of Dumbledore's influence within the Wizengamot."

They went into the courtroom. Severus seated himself in the back of the courtroom. There was no point in Potter, his lawyer, or Dumbledore seeing him and giving them any ammunition. Lily, Her parents and Petunia seated themselves in the area behind Reginald. At the other table sat James and the Potter family barrister, Bernard Whippleton. Mrs. Potter sat behind them and glared at Lily.

The members of the Wizengamot walked in and seated themselves. They sat in an area that was situated higher above the courtroom and were dressed in plum-colored robes and high triangular shaped caps of the same color. The department heads could be differentiated because they wore black robes and caps with a silver _W_ on their robes. The courtroom had quickly filled up.

Severus gazed around at the courtroom. He spotted most of the members of Weasley's Warriors with the exception of Filius and Remus who had classes. Even Aberforth was sitting in the courtroom exchanging glares with Dumbledore.

Barty Crouch pounded on his desk and called the Wizengamot to order. "The hearing of James Charles Potter is now in session. Mr. Whippleton, please call your first witness."

"I call Severus Snape," Mr. Whippleton said. James smirked at Lily. She wasn't going to beat him.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**_To Bluedrayseverus_:** Spinners End is in Cokeworth _according _to Ms. Rowling's bible but since I don't agree with anything else in Rowling's bible concerning Severus, Spinner's End will stay in Manchester.

**Chapter 16**

Reginald immediately stood up when he heard Severus name called. "Objection, I was not informed by Mr. Whippleton that Mr. Snape would be called to testify."

"Are you representing Mr. Snape and Miss Evans, Mr. Winchester?" Bartemius Crouch asked.

"Yes," Reginald answered.

"Let the hearing continue. "Mr. Whippleton, you will be allowed to question Mr. Snape, but be advised I am not happy with your conduct," Bartemius said glaring at him.

Severus moved confidently across the courtroom and sat down in the chair in the middle of the room. The chains around it didn't even rattle once.

"Mr. Snape, why don't you tell us why you raped that Ravenclaw girl your seventh year," Mr. Whippleton said.

Severus lifted his eyebrow and shook his head. "Sorry, I can't tell you about something that never happened."

"Come, come, Mr. Snape, the entire school knew about it. Did you think it would stay hidden forever?"

Reginald stood up. "I object! Does this mythical Ravenclaw girl have a name or does she only exist in James Potter's imagination?"

"Yes, Mr. Whippleton," Bartemius said impatiently. "We can bring the girl here and we will close the court so she has complete privacy while she testifies, but we need to know what her name is first." He looked over at James. "Mr. Potter?"

Lily noticed Reginald whisper something to his assistant who quickly left the room.

James appeared shocked that his story would even be questioned. "Well, I don't really know, Sir. I only ever heard the rumor, but not who it was, but I did hear from different people."

'_Oh_ _right_!' Lily thought. '_You heard it from Pettigrew and Black!'_

"In other words Mr. Potter, you're accusing Mr. Snape of allegedly committing a horrendous crime based on what sounds like some vague rumor?" Bartemius asked.

At that moment Professor Flitwick followed by Madam Pomfrey walked into the courtroom. Reginald stood up. "I believe we can clear up immediately if there is indeed any fact at all to Mr. Potter's claim. I took the liberty of summoning Professor Filius Flitwick, the Head of Ravenclaw House and Madam Poppy Pomfrey who is the Mediwitch at Hogwarts."

"I would like to ask Professor Flitwick a few questions if he is willing?" Bartemius said.

"Quite willing, Mr. Crouch," Filius said cheerfully. He started towards the chair where Severus was seated, but Bartemius called him back. "I can ask you my questions from the table over there if you'd like to have a seat."

Filius seated himself at the table where Reginald was standing as that was closest to where Bartemius was seated.

"Professor Flitwick, you've been head of Ravenclaw House for many years."

"Nearly thirty years," Filius said proudly.

"Do you recall hearing rumors about this alleged rape by Mr. Snape during the last school year?"

"I never heard rumors of any rape, period. If I had I would have called a house meeting of all the older witches in my house and asked Madam Pomfrey to talk with them."

"Then you heard _no_ rumors about Mr. Snape or an alleged rape of one of your house?" Bartemius clarified for the record.

Absolutely not!" Filius declared. "And if there had been I'd be more likely to believe Mr. Potter guilty of it than Mr. Snape. He's always been very arrogant; entirely sure no witch could possibly resist him."

"Thank you, Professor Flitwick," Bartemius said. "Madam Pomfrey, do you have anything to add?"

"Yes, Mr. Crouch I do." She fixed James with a steely expression. "I did _not_ hear this rumor that was supposedly running rampant around Hogwarts last year. If I had I would have immediately contacted Filius, if he indeed hadn't already contacted me first, and tried to find out who the victim was." She glared at James again. "Mr. Potter and his best friend, Sirius Black have hated and bullied Mr. Snape since the first moment they met him on the Hogwarts Express; they put him in the hospital on the second day of school by trying out an inappropriate spell on him. From then on I saw him at least once a week or more because of these two. I complained to the headmaster and deputy headmistress several times, but they refused to do anything to stop the bullying." She glared at Dumbledore and then Professor McGonagall who looked away. "The headmaster said they were 'boyish pranks' and the deputy headmistress' assertion was that no Slytherin can be trusted and Mr. Snape most likely unjustly attacked Mr. Potter and Mr. Black first and therefore deserved what he got. I can easily believe that Mr. Potter thought this lie up strictly as another way of attacking Mr. Snape since he seems to think he has a right to do so."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Bartemius said. "Mr. Snape, you are dismissed and may be seated." Bartemius turned to Mr. Whippleton. "It's obvious this rumor has no basis in fact so you cannot use it in your defense of Mr. Potter, Mr. Whippleton. Now do you have any other witness to call?"

"Yes, I have three character witnesses."

"Please call your first witness," Bartemius directed.

"I call Albus Dumbledore to the stand."

Albus strode over to the center seat and sat down, carefully arranging his robes around him.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, you've known Mr. Potter for how long?"

"Since he was born. The late Mr. Potter was and Mrs. Potter remains a good friend of mine."

"What was Mr. Potter like as a student?"

"Very bright, outgoing and sociable. He received mostly Outstandings and Exceeds on all his exams."

Severus smirked and for his own amusement tried counting the number of cauldrons Potter had melted in Potions over a seven-year span.

"His professors adored him and the students envied him and wanted to be like him."

'_Yes, they all wanted to be bullying toerags just like him_!' Lily thought angrily.

"How was he towards the other students?"

"An excellent leader!" Dumbledore exclaimed enthusiastically. "Always concerned with setting a fine example for the younger children, willing to help them with their studies, and defend them against the bullies in the other houses."

'_Of course_!' Lily thought. '_He was the bully who hexed kids, even first years, because their robes were from the second-hand shop or he didn't think they were attractive or good-looking enough_!'

Severus felt ready to barf listening to Dumbledore piling on all the dragon dung supposed goodness of Potter. By the time he was finished the Pope should have Potter's canonization papers ready!

"Would you ever think James Potter would be capable of blackmail, Professor Dumbledore?"

"Absolutely not!" Albus declared. "I'm sure Miss Evans just misunderstood his intention."

'_What does he think I am - an idiot?_' Lily thought angrily. '_I certainly know blackmail when I hear it!_'

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore."

"Do you have any questions, Mr. Winchester?"

"As a matter of fact I do," Reginald replied as he walked up to Dumbledore who looked suspiciously at him. "Professor Dumbledore, what are your impressions of Miss Evans?"

Dumbledore relaxed visibly at Reginald's question. "Miss Evans was one of the brightest and most talented Muggleborn witches ever to enter Hogwarts."

"And she was a Prefect her fifth and sixth years and Head Girl her last year. Is that so, Professor?" Reginald asked.

"Yes."

"Hardly the type of person who would tell a lie of this proportion?"

"I did not say she was lying; what I said was that she was mistaken."

"I believe Mr. Potter claims Miss Evans lied about him blackmailing her because she was jealous that he was dating another witch."

"James was very upset about her accusation and he may not have realized what he was saying."

"You still insist that he did not try to extort Miss Evans into marrying him?"

"As I said James terribly upset when he and Miss Evans ended their engagement."

"He was so distraught he didn't realize he was committing blackmail?" Reginald asked. He turned to Bartemius. "No further questions."

"You may step down, Dumbledore," Bartemius said. "Please call your next witness, Mr. Whippleton."

"I call Professor Minerva McGonagall to the stand."

Minerva got up from where she was sitting and took the seat in the middle of the courtroom. "Professor McGonagall, you taught Mr. Potter Transfiguration for seven years?"

Oh my, yes," Minerva replied sending James a warm smile. "I believe if he had not chosen to be an Auror he would have made an excellent Transfiguration professor."

Severus smirked. '_She might get her wish if Potter is dismissed from the Aurors_.'

"What about Miss Evans?"

"She was an excellent student also, but she made an unfortunate choice as far as a best friend though. The Prefects and I tried to talk her into cutting her ties with him, but she would not listen to us and kept insisting there was nothing wrong with him."

"Who was this friend, Professor McGonagall?"

"Severus Snape."

Reginald sighed, shook his head, and rose to his feet, "Objection! Once again this hearing is _not _about Mr. Snape; it's about what Mr. Potter allegedly did."

"Mr. Whippleton," Bartemius said in a severe tone. "You will confine your questions to Mr. Potter and to Mr. Potter _only_."

"Professor, would you have any reason to believe that James Potter would blackmail Miss Evans?"

"No, absolutely not!" Minerva declared righteously. "I suspect she may have been _Confunded_ or _Imperiused_."

Severus smirked. If McGonagall wasn't careful she'd be walking out of the courtroom with a pair of donkey ears and a tail.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall," Whippleton said.

"Do you have any questions for the witness, Mr. Winchester?"

"Yes, I do," Reginald answered. He walked over to Minerva who looked plainly hostile at his approach. "Professor, I understand you believe Mr. Potter was the perfect student?"

"Yes."

"Why was it then that you never appointed him a Prefect or Quidditch Captain?"

Severus smiled. Reginald had her – there was no getting around that.

"Well …he already had enough on his plate with his studies and being out best Quidditch player."

_'Studies_?' Severus snorted. '_You mean those terribly hard subjects such as Care of Magical Creatures and Divination_?'

"Hmm …it wouldn't of course have anything to do with that stack of detention cards in your office? The detentions he got for not only for constantly hexing Mr. Snape, but also Miss Hughes of Ravenclaw and first and second years in all houses even his own."

Lily almost started to giggle at McGonagall's expression. She looked as if she had to swallow a particularly sour lemon.

"No further questions."

"I believe you had a third character witness you were going to call, Mr. Whippleton. Please do so," Bartemius directed.

"The court calls Sirius Black to the stand."

Severus snorted. Of course who else, but Potter's best mate!

There was no answer to the summons. James turned around and scanned the courtroom looking for his friend, a look of disbelief on his face.

"The court calls Sirius Black to the stand."

Severus smirked. Reg had told him about the talk he'd had with Sirius when he invited him for Christmas. Maybe something he'd said actually sunk into Sirius' thick head.

"My apology to the Wizengamot, but my third witness appears not to be in the courtroom," Whippleton said.

Bartemius looked frustrated. "Well, that's unfortunate, but if Mr. Black chooses not to appear as a character witness for Mr. Potter we can't force him to." He shuffled some papers on his desk. "I've got statements from both Auror Moody and Auror Shacklebolt and Miss Evans' memory the Aurors collected. The Wizengamot will adjourn for today to consider the testimony we've heard and the evidence that we've received and reconvene tomorrow to render our decision."

Everybody rose as the Wizengamot left the room. Severus stayed out of sight until Potter and his supporters left the room. He was going to head down to the front when he was stopped by Reg.

"Hey, Reg," Severus greeted him. "So what happened to your brother?"

"Dad and Siri have been talking a lot since Christmas. He's been over for dinner a couple of times since then. Dad's been trying to show him how Potter's been leading him in the wrong direction and it's eventually going to get him dismissed from the Auror Corp and one thing Siri's always wanted to be was an Auror. I think dad's making progress."

"Your dad's advice must be slowly sinking in, " Severus replied.

"Hopefully, but you know Siri; he's got a pretty thick head besides being heavily influenced by Dumbledore as well as Potter."

"Yeah, the dynamic duo," Severus sneered.

"I hope they throw Potter in Azkaban and forget where they put the key to his cell."

Lily, her parents, Petunia, and Reginald came over to Severus and Reg. Severus introduced Reg to them and then said, "I'll be leaving next week for a 3-month trip with the Flamel's to Eastern Europe and Asia to do alchemy and potion research. Why don't you come over for dinner Saturday night?"

"Sounds good," Reg replied. "I'd better get going as I have to be at St. Mungo's at noon today." He nodded at the Evans' and Reginald. "Nice meeting you all."

"He's certainly a lot nicer young man than his brother," Iris remarked.

"Do you think they'll convict Potter tomorrow?" Richard asked.

"Without a doubt and I'm sure he'll be dismissed from the Auror Academy. However, since he has no previous criminal record they probably won't send him to Azkaban. More likely they'll make him do some type of community service work for six months to a year," Reginal replied.

"Well, as long as he gets thrown out of the Auror's; I don't particularly care what else they do to him," Severus said.

"I wonder why Black didn't show up to testify on behalf of Potter?" Lily said to Severus as they were having dinner that night.

"Reg said Sirius and his father have been talking a lot since Christmas and he thinks his dad is making inroads in convincing him that Potter's bad news and if he keeps hanging around with him, he's going to be out of the Auror Academy on his arse right beside Potter."

"He's always been such a major git and so tight with Potter that it's really hard to believe," Lily commented.

The next morning the hearing promptly resumed at nine o'clock. There were more people in the courtroom than the previous day. Severus spotted Reg; most of the Order of the Phoenix, Arthur Weasley, Edgar Bones and Benjy Fenwick were there as was Aberforth Dumbledore.

Everybody rose as the Wizengamot came in. There was much whispering and Bartemius pounded on his desk. "There will be order in the courtroom!"

The whispering halted abruptly. Bartemius stood up. "The accused will stand and face the Wizengamot." James stood up. "We the Wizengamot speak in one voice and our decision is final. In the matter of James Potter's attempt to force Miss Evans into marriage with him by means of blackmail, we find the defendant guilty; we order his dismissal from the Auror Academy and order him to do six months of community service at Gringotts. The Goblins need help cleaning up after their security dragons. You will report to Gringotts tomorrow at six o'clock in the morning, Mr. Potter."

James slumped down in shock. He couldn't believe he was actually being booted out of the Auror Academy and having to spend the next six months cleaning up dragon dung! He spotted Rita Skeeter hurrying out of the courtroom and groaned. No doubt she wanted to be the first one to post the Wizengamot's decision in the **_Daily Prophet_**!

James and Mrs. Potter were hurriedly hustled out of the courtroom by Whippleton, followed by Dumbledore, McGonagall, MacDonald, McKinnon and the Prewitt twins.

Severus smiled as he heard the yells from Skeeter and her photographer and from the reporters for Wireless Wizarding Network and the roars from Dumbledore and the Prewitt twins to stay away. He made his way down to Lily and her family and Reginald. They waited a few moments for the cries to die away and Reginald looked out the door. Fortunately all the news hounds had apparently followed the Potters. They left the courtroom and quickly took the Ministry Floo back to the Evans' house. Reginald excused himself and flooed back to his office on the third floor of Gringotts.

Severus and Lily stayed over for dinner. Vernon drove up from Surrey to join them. He and Petunia were planning to stay overnight and drive back home in the morning. They filled in Vernon on the hearing and outcome over dinner.

"Well, I must say I don't think he was punished enough," Vernon remarked.

"Actually, Vernon, cleaning up dragon poop for six months will be the perfect punishment for Potter," Severus said with a smirk.

"Yes," Lily agreed. "In Herbology, dragon dung was Professor Sprout's favorite kind of fertilizer and Potter hated handling it even with gloves on so having to shovel it up every day is really going to be a punishment for him."

"If you could see how big a dragon actually is you could easily imagine the mess they make!" Severus chuckled. "He'll be having a grand old-time!"

"Well, I asked Mr. Moody about some sort of restraining order to keep Potter away from Lily while Sev's gone and he said he'd check the law books to see if he can find a something to cover that," Richard said.

"I'll ask Reginald to check too," Severus decided.

"I'm just glad he got kicked out of the Auror Academy," Lily said.

"I'm just happy he's out of our lives," Iris said bring in the chocolate cake she had baked.

The next morning's _**Prophet** _carried a picture of Potter coming out of the courtroom with his arm over his face and the main story was about him being kicked out of the Auror Academy and sentenced to shoveling dragon dung at Gringotts for six months.

"Well, that kind of humiliation is punishment alone for somebody as arrogant as he is," Lily remarked.

Severus and Lily spent Saturday together and then on Sunday night Regulus came over for dinner. Severus made Honey-Ginger Roasted Chicken in his Crockpot and other succulent smelling dishes. Severus poured him and Reg a glass of red wine, but Lily refused it saying that she still had studying to do for a test the next day and red wine made her too tired.

"I talked to Siri about why he didn't appear as a character witness for Potter and he said he didn't want to lie because he knew James was planning something bad in regards to Lily and you. Potter said it in front of Siri and Pettigrew."

"He thought he could force me into marrying him by threatening to spread horrible rumors about Sev and my dad if I didn't marry him, but he underestimated me greatly!" Lily said fiercely.

"Well, I'm glad they caught the fool and I'm glad Siri's no longer hanging around with him!" Reg said as Severus brought in dessert.

Severus had his trunk packed and had a portkey, an empty wine bottle, for eight o'clock to take him to Paris where he would be meeting the Flamel's and from there they would portkey to Germany and then to Russia.

Lily was in bed studying as Severus checked his trunk and added things and took other things out. He wouldn't be here when she got home from school tomorrow and she wouldn't see him again until the end of March or beginning of April. She was glad she had college and work to occupy her and keep her from missing him so much.

"I think I've finally got everything I'll need," Severus remarked.

"Since you've been putting stuff in and taking stuff out for the last half hour I would hope so," Lily teased. She patted the bed beside her. "Come to bed or you'll oversleep and miss your port key."

Severus smiled. "I guess I'm nervous," he confessed. "I've never been out of England before." He got undressed and got into bed.

Lily closed the textbook she'd been studying and put it on the nightstand and then noxed the lights. They made love slowly as it would be the last time for a while and then fell asleep in each other's arms.

Severus was up at five and Lily at six-thirty as she had a 7:00 lab to start the day. Before she flooed to the College of Potions, Severus gave her one last hug and a kiss. "I guess this will have to last until I get back," he joked. "Now remember I added your name to my account and if you need any Galleons for anything all you need do is contact Zort."

"I know," Lily said.

"And I did ask Reginald to check to see if he could find law that can keep Potter away from you completely."

"I think Potter's going to be too busy shoveling dragon poop to bother me," Lily giggled. "I'll be fine, Sev. Mum and dad are just down the street and I can always contact Alastor and Kingsley if Potter dares to bother me again or I can just use that boot kicking hex you invented."

Severus grinned. "Okay. I have copies of your school and work schedules so I'll try to owl you or fire-call you, but I don't know how it works internationally."

"Even if you can't I'll know you're thinking about me and you'll know I'm thinking about you," Lily said. She gave him one final passionate kiss. "I have to go or I'll be late for class." She stepped into the fireplace and said, "College of Potions, London," threw down the floo powder and was gone in a flash of green flames.

Severus sighed. He wished the Flamel's had set the port key for an earlier time. He had an hour before he was scheduled to leave. It was still dark outside so he went outside and added an extra layer of wards around his house. Kingsley and Reg had also promised to keep eyes on Lily as did Arthur and Molly. Just before eight o'clock Severus went upstairs, cast a feather-light spell on his trunk, shrank it and put it in his pocket. He said goodbye to Poseidon and with one last look around his bedroom, touched the port key and vanished.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

James, a scarf tied around his nose and mouth to deaden the smell, cursed Snivellus and his rotten barrister, Winchester. Forcing him, the heir of one of the noblest houses in Wizarding Britain to shovel dragon dung the Muggle way. He couldn't even use magic to get rid of it! He cursed them and wished he had Snivellus here this moment so he could bury him under a huge pile of dung! Sirius too - just wait until the next time he saw _that_ rotten and disloyal git!

He jumped suddenly as a stinging sensation hit his bum and he looked over to see a glaring goblin. "Work! You are here to work!"

James began shoveling again, swearing under his breath. He would get even with Snivellus for this humiliation; he'd rue the day he'd ever heard the name James Potter! After four hours of shoveling stinking dragon dung, James flooed home to Potter Manor. He spent a half-hour taking a hot shower and scrubbing off the smell. He dressed in fresh clothing leaving his other clothes for the elves to pick up and wash. There was a sudden pop and Dumbledore's Phoenix Patronus appeared and announced, "James, emergency meeting of the Inner Council in my office in an hour."

James sent his Stag Patronus with a message that he'd be there and then went downstairs to have dinner with his mum. He needed to think about what he wanted to do. He recalled Sirius mentioning Hit Wizards as a possible career. They went after the toughest and most evil of Dark Wizards and nobody questioned their decisions to kill. They were given a lot of leeway.

**Page Break ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Dumbledore waited impatiently for the Order members to appear. He had important news – possibly the best news anybody had heard in a long time.

The Inner Council members now consisting of Albus, Elphias Doge, Professor McGonagall, Mary MacDonald, Marlene McKinnon and James Potter flooed in one or two at a time. Albus noticed Sirius wasn't present, but he wasn't expecting him to be after he sold out his best friend. When they had finally all arrived, Albus cast a silencing charm over his office door. After all the members were seated with tea and snacks, he announced, "I received some extraordinary news about Voldemort today," Albus said ignoring the flinches the name caused. He took his Pensieve off his desk, cast a _Featherlight Charm_ on it and allowed it to float into the middle of the room where all the Inner Council could see it. A figure rose out of it; a thin, almost spindly looking woman dressed in a gauzy, spangled shawl, many chains, beads, bangles and rings and wearing eyeglasses that made her eyes look huge. She began droning in a horse voice; "_"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."*****_

"What does this mean, Albus?" Minerva said in confusion.

"I was interviewing Sybill Trelawney who is the great-great granddaughter of Cassandra Trelawney, for the position of Divination professor and while I was conducting the interview she suddenly went into a trance and made this prediction.

"It sounds like it means that somebody will have a baby at the end of July who will be able to defeat You-Know-Who," Marlene said.

"How will we ever find out who it is though?" Mary asked.

"I will contact my source at St. Mungo's and they will keep me informed about any witches with child who are due at the end of July."

"Goodness, Albus, if You-Know-Who were to find out about this prophecy; he'd kill every pregnant witch in Great Britain!" Minerva said.

"I'm afraid he might know at least part of the prophecy. I was meeting Sybill in the Hog's Head and there was somebody listening outside the door, but they disapparated before I could find out who they were, but I'm assuming it was a Death Eater. I've hired Sybill and installed her in the North Tower to protect her."

James sneered, "It was probably Snivellus listening outside the door. He probably need something big to impress his master!"

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Iris was just putting a roast chicken on the table when she heard the Floo sound. Richard who was reading the evening edition of the paper, put it down and looked expectantly at the fireplace.

Lily stepped out, looking a bit pale. Severus had been gone for two weeks when she decided the fact that had been worrying her, she couldn't avoid any longer. She couldn't kid herself that the non-appearance of her monthlies was due to stress or anxiety because of Potter so she'd made an appointment at St. Mungo's with an obstetrical healer for that afternoon.

"Lily, you're just in time for dinner," Iris said.

"Mum, Dad, I have some news to tell you first, but you better sit down."

Richard sat down on the couch next to Iris. "You look upset, Lily. Potter hasn't been bothering you again?"

No, Dad," Lily shook her head, took a deep breath and said, "Mum, Dad, I went to the healer today and I'm pregnant. Sev's the father and I'm due at the end of July."

**_*Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, page 841, J.K. Rowling, Arthur A. Levine Books 2003._**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 17**

Lily broke down sobbing. "Oh Lily!" Iris said enfolding her in a hug. "Everything will be fine."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen!" She sobbed. "I know you must be so disappointed in me!"

"We're not disappointed at all," Iris reassured her. "We're thrilled to be having another grandchild."

"Does Sev know?" Richard asked quietly.

Lily shook her head, trying to get herself under control. She wiped her eye and blew her nose. "I wasn't sure so I didn't say anything. I knew if I was pregnant Sev would have refused to go with the Flamels and I don't want to be the cause of him not receiving his potion's mastery."

"You do realize by the time Severus does come home, you'll be five almost six months along?" Iris asked.

"I know, but I can't tell him because he'll insist on coming right back home."

"First off, Lily, as your mother's already said we're not in any way disappointed with you," Richard stated. "Second, I really think you should tell Sev, but it's your decision to make. Third, we're going to be having two grandchildren instead of one and last, I think you should move back here just until Sev comes back. I don't like you living alone with Potter running around loose with an axe to grind."

"I know, Dad and I agree. Not because of Potter though. Sev's house has every ward imaginable and there's no way Potter could get to me, but I _am_ very lonely living there without Sev."

"Good," Richard replied.

"I'll need to bring Poseidon and Boadicea over here too," Lily said.

"We'll go right after dinner."

"Now tell us what your doctor said," Iris said excitedly.

"Healer Clarke said I'm in excellent health and the baby's development is right on schedule. She said by my next visit she should be able to tell what the baby's sex is. She gave me some potions to keep me and the baby healthy and a potion for morning sickness. I told her so far I haven't had any morning sickness, but she said it was just in case."

I remember how sick I was for the first three months with both of you girls. Petunia said she had morning sickness in the second month, but after that she felt fine."

"So, after your next visit we'll know whether we're having a grandson or granddaughter?" Richard asked.

"That's what Healer Clarke said, Dad."

"I'm so excited!" Iris said. "Petunia thinks she's having a boy, but she doesn't know for sure, of course. Vernon's mother told her that because of how she's carrying the baby."

Richard snorted. "The woman believes Nessie exists too."

"We'll need to buy nursery furniture for you," Iris decided.

"No, we won't. Sev's got an entire set. We found it when we were cleaning out a room his parents used for storage that originally was his nursery. The furniture is very expensive and in really good shape. We shrank it and put in a box in the closet in there."

"But you will need baby clothes, nappies, a stroller, toys," Iris started making a list as she talked.

"Whoa!" Richard said holding up his hand. "Let's get Lily moved back here first and then you can discuss shopping for the baby."

Lily freshened up and then she went downstairs to help her mother get dinner on the table. As Iris was getting the roast out of the oven, Lily asked, "Mum, what am I going to tell Tuney? I don't want her thinking I'm trying to steal her limelight by having a baby too and I definitely don't want her to go back to treating me like she did when I got my Hogwarts letter."

"Petunia's grown up a lot since then and she's the center of Vernon's universe now. I think she'll be happy to find out you're pregnant too and that will bring you much closer. She'll have somebody else to discuss her condition with and somebody who's going through the same thing she is."

"I hope so."

Richard and Lily drove over to Severus' house after dinner. She collected some of her clothes, her book bag, shoes and other necessities, her make-up and other personal items while Richard took the owls in their cages down to the car. Lily made sure the house was securely locked while her father loaded her stuff into the boot. He drove the four blocks back home, parked in the driveway and helped Lily unload her stuff. Once she was settled in her old room, she gave the owls fresh water and treats and then got ready for bed being exhausted after a very trying day.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus' first few weeks traveling with the Flamels were difficult. The various time zones played havoc with his sleep patterns and he found out he wouldn't be able to fire-call Lily because while their Wizarding communities had the floo network, he could only travel or fire-call within the country. None had international networks including Britain. He could send a letter by international owl post, but it would take weeks to get back to Lily. There was something to be said for Muggle post and their use of airplanes to get their mail delivered internationally. He wondered if he could use a Muggle phone to call her, but he rarely used the Muggle phone at home and had absolutely no idea how to use one in a foreign country to call home so he settled for writing her a long letter. He would post it by Muggle mail tomorrow. He and the Flamels spent most of their time talking to potion masters and touring potion fields. There were so many ingredients Severus had never encountered before and he took many cutting, hoping able to grow them at home or at one of his manor houses. He wrote Lily nearly every night and posted the letter the next day by Muggle mail. They would be heading to Russia soon and he planned to stop in Leningrad to visit Boris' parents. When they would be in Japan in a month or so, he was planning to stop and visit Kamon's parents and siblings.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Lily and Petunia sat watching the mid-day newscast about Prince Charles latest girlfriend and all the speculation if this was 'the one.' Petunia was staying with them while Vernon was out of town for a week.

Lily nudged Petunia and teased, "Remember when you used to tell everyone that you were going to marry Prince Charles?"

Petunia snorted. "I was ten years old too. Besides didn't you used to tell everybody that you were going to marry Prince Andrew?"

"Yes," Lily laughed. "And we said we were both going to live next door to each other in Kensington Palace."

"He really ought to get on with it, you know," Petunia said staring at the photo of Prince Charles. "He is getting a bit long in the tooth."

Lily giggled. "I'm sure the Queen and Prince Philip are probably telling him the same thing, Tuney although they're probably not telling him he's getting a bit long in the tooth."

Iris came in with the mail and gave Lily two letters from Severus. "My goodness! That boy must write a letter every night."

"He does, Mum. I wish he could fire-call me, but the Floo Network only works within each country and not internationally. Wizards apparently either haven't figured out how to expand it for international traveling or aren't interested in it."

"Can't he call on the telephone?" Petunia asked.

Lily laughed. "Tuney, Sev barely knows how to use the phone here. To have to figure out a foreign country's phone system would be nearly impossible for him." She opened up her first letter. It was four pages long.

Iris called them to lunch. Lily walked out into the kitchen still reading her letters and sat down at the table.

"What does he say, Lily?" Iris asked as she poured their tea.

"He's in India and he says that the country is very beautiful, but it's very poor. He says there are wealthy Purebloods just like in Britain, but they don't have the same prejudices the Purebloods here have. He's writes a lot about all the different potion ingredients he's collected and the Potion Masters he's talked to." Lily folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. "I envy him being able to travel, seeing so much of the world and learning so many new things."

"Well, we've both got new experiences coming up," Petunia pointed out.

"That true," Lily smiled. She was due to go back to her healer tomorrow and hopefully be able to find out the baby's sex.

"Do you suppose if I come along with you tomorrow your doctor might be able to tell me what I'm having or do you have to be magical for it to work?" Petunia asked suddenly.

"I don't know, Tuney. You're certainly welcome to come with me, but I thought you didn't want to know what you're going to have."

"Well, I guess I'm as curious as any other expectant mother. Even if I am able to find out I don't necessarily need to tell Vernon I know the baby's sex."

The next morning Iris and Petunia accompanied Lily to St. Mungo's to see Healer Clarke. She had Lily lay down on a bed and after doing a brief examination of her with her wand, a scroll appeared beside Clarke who took it and scanned the results. "Excellent, Lily," She pronounced. "You're both very healthy and doing fine. Do you want to see if we can see what your baby's sex is?"

Lily nodded eagerly, "Yes."

Healer Clarke smiled. "Lie very still now." She waved her wand over Lily's stomach in a circular motion and chanted, "_Acclaro Parvulus_." Suddenly an image of Lily's uterus with the fetus inside appeared above her stomach.

Bother Iris and Petunia, who had been quietly observing up until this point, gasped loudly and both bent forward for a closer look.

"You're going to have a little girl," Healer Clarke announced. "And she's going to be strongly magical as I can detect her core already and it very unusual to be able to detect them before six months."

"A granddaughter," Iris clapped. "I'm sure Sev will be thrilled, Lily."

"Would you be able to see what my sister's baby is?" Lily asked getting up.

"I don't know, but we can certainly find out," Healer Clarke said.

Petunia lay down on the bed Lily had vacated and Healer Clark went through the same procedure she had done with Lily. To everyone's surprise she had the same results as she did Lily. "You're going to have a boy, Mrs. Dursley," She said then frowned. "You're at the end of your fifth month?"

Petunia nodded. "Is everything alright?"

"Your son is healthy, but I think he's going to be very big. A 20-week fetus should weigh about 11 ounces, but I'm reading his weight is just a little over a pound."

"Vernon's mother said he was over ten pounds when he was born."

"You might want to consider discussing a different method of childbirth other than natural with your doctor the next time you see him although I believe he takes measurement of your waist each time?"

Petunia nodded. "I'll look for an opportunity to bring it up without it seeming suspicious

"He should be able to tell how big the baby is getting and suggest it himself," Healer Clarke said.

"How come you can do this on me when I'm not magical?" Petunia asked curiously.

"Well, you apparently have a small magical core; not one big enough to do magic, but one that would enable you to floo or possibly to be side-along apparated."

"Could my son be magical?" She asked.

"It is a possibility, Mrs. Dursley, but I won't be able to tell for sure until the end of your sixth month when, as I told your sister, I'm usually able to detect an infant's magical core."

After they left St. Mungo's they went into London to eat lunch. "We're going to have a grandson and a granddaughter," Iris said. "I think this calls for a celebration."

"I'm starving," Petunia said. "I could frankly eat an entire cow!"

Lily had been happy to hear that Alice was also pregnant and due at the end of July. Sev and she had attended their wedding the previous July. They were living at Meadow View, the Longbottom manor house on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow since Frank was the only heir. Alice had told her that Augusta was thrilled that she was going to be a grandmother.

Richard was thrilled to hear he was going to have both a grandson and a granddaughter. It was the best news he'd had all week.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

James had just gotten home from Gringotts, showered and changed his clothes. He was eating a roast with all the trimmings when Dumbledore's Phoenix Patronus flew into the room, announcing a special meeting at seven o'clock in Dumbledore's office. James finished his meal in a leisurely fashion. Shoveling dragon dung all day long was hard work and he was going to enjoy all the benefits of being wealthy and not rush his meal. At exactly seven o'clock James stepped out of the floo into Dumbledore's office. All the rest of the Order was already there.

"I'm glad you could make it, James," Dumbledore said a bit reprovingly.

James took a seat next to Dedalus Diggle with his arms crossed. "What's the so important, Albus?"

"Through my contact at St. Mungo's I've discovered two witches who are due at the end of July."

"Who are they, Albus?" Minerva asked.

"Alice Longbottom and Lily Evans," Albus replied.

"What!" James rose. "Lily's pregnant?"

"It would appear so, James," Albus said placidly as he unwrapped a lemon drop and stuck it in his mouth.

"She can't be! You're contact is wrong!" James yelled red in the face. "She told me she was using a contraceptive potion." He didn't want to people to know that he and Lily had never slept together. That would really put a dent in his image as the golden boy of the class of '78.

"Apparently she is, James," Marlene said. "Albus has solid contacts. Besides you don't need to worry anyway since it's probably Snivellus' brat."

"She always was partial to that creepy Slytherin," Mary added. "We all tried to tell Lily and Minerva did too, that Snivellus was bad news, but she wouldn't listen to us and told us we never tried to see his good side.

Minerva snorted loudly, "If that boy had a good side I'll eat my hat!"

"Well, the point is we need to keep an eye on both of them because one of them is carrying the child that is predicted by Sybill to defeat Voldemort," Albus said.

"It won't be Lily," Marlene snorted. "Nothing that's half Snivellus' could ever be good or care about anybody else."

James sat sulking for the rest of the meeting. He was thinking of ways – legal ways he could get even with Snivellus for alienating and sullying his fiancée. Maybe he'd hit some of his father's law books and see if he could get any ideas.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Lily's pregnancy had become obvious by the middle of March. She continued to receive letters from Severus early every day telling her all about the places he was visiting and what he was learning. He thought they'd be back at the end of March or the beginning of April. She still attended meetings of Weasley's Warriors, but did not go out on raids. She occupied herself with setting up, with help from her parents, the nursery for her baby.

"This is a beautiful nursery set, Lily," Iris remarked after Lily had taken it out of the box where Severus had stored it and enlarged it. She had polished the furniture to a gleam after Richard moved it into place.

Lily smiled as she used a spell to refresh the wallpaper so it looked as if it had just been hung. "I know, Mum. Sev figures his parents must have bought before his father started seriously drinking and lost his job."

"Now we just need to get some blind and curtains for the windows and a mattress, sheets, and blankets for the crib," Iris said. "Not to mention infant clothing and nappies."

"We still have four months yet, Mum," Lily said.

"There's no point in waiting until the last minute."

"Your mother had everything bought for Petunia and you in her first trimester," Richard joked.

Another two weeks passed and Lily spent the time studying for her midterm exams the first week in April. She was thankful school would be out for a few days for spring break so she had plenty of free time to spend with Severus when he arrived home. She had a lunch date with Alice one day and they stopped at Gringotts first to withdraw some money when Alice suddenly wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Do I smell dragon dung?"

They both turned to see James glaring at them. "Heard you got a little Snivellus in the oven there, Evans."

"Aren't you supposed to be cleaning up dragon poop, Potter?" Lily gave him a sneer that was Severus worthy.

Zort stepped in front of Lily and Alice. "You do not bother the customers, Potter."

"The Potters are customers too. We've banked with you since the first Potter. Evans isn't a customer; she's a whore."

Alice gasped and Lily was about to pull out her wand when Zort shot a stinging hex at James causing him to jump. "You are lazy, insulting, stupid, and you need to work harder." He snapped his fingers and two goblins dragged James away. "You haven't heard the last of this or of me!" He yelled.

Alice shook her head. "I always knew Potter wasn't too bright, but I didn't know he was that stupid! You should be concerned about that threat he made."

"He's a blowhard, Alice, but what concerns me is he said he _heard_ I was pregnant."

"I suppose one of the Clown Patrol saw you somewhere and told him."

"Maybe."

Later in the week Iris and her went shopping at Babba's Baby Boutique in Diagon Alley to buy the rest of the things for the nursery and buying clothes for the baby, mostly onesies of every color and plenty of nappies. Lily found a cute mobile with stars to hang over the baby's crib that played 'Rockabye Baby.' Iris found a stroller that the saleswitch advised that "...Tapping the awning once with your wand will cause a shield to form to protect your baby from the cold and wind. It also has warming and cooling charms, and a charm to monitor the baby's health; an alarm would go off warning you if your baby becomes ill. If you tap your wand twice the shield darkens to prevent any damage to their eyes."

"I'll take it," Lily decided. She also bought a highchair that had a self-cleaning charm and an enlarging charm. "I'll be able to use this until she's able to eat at the table."

When Petunia was over as Vernon frequently traveled for Grunnings; they discussed baby names. "I was thinking Jasmine Iris Eileen for her name," Lily said.

"That a very pretty name," Petunia replied. "Vernon and I were talking the other night and we've decided on Dudley, after Vernon's father and Vernon for his middle name. If we have a girl Vernon wants to name her Margaret Iris after both her grandmothers, but of course we having a boy."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus and the Flamels port-keyed from Egypt into Britain early in the morning on April 1st. Perenelle smiled as she saw how anxious Severus was to get home and see Lily again. He had written her weeks ago that he'd definitely be home on the first. "I know you're anxious to see Lily, but Severus it's only six in the morning," she pointed out. "Why don't I have our house elves prepare breakfast; we can eat and then you can floo home."

Severus nodded somewhat reluctantly, but he knew she was right. At six in the morning the only ones up were people on early work shifts and Lily was more than likely asleep as she was definitely not a morning person. The elves made a big breakfast happy to have their master and mistress home again. They had given Severus a few days off, knowing he needed to readjust to the time change and spend time with his fiancée.

Finally, at eight o'clock Severus stepped into the Flamel's floo, threw down the floo powder and said, "Snape house, Spinner's End, Manchester." Stepping out of the fireplace into his living room he called, "Lily?"

"Sev!" Lily cried hurrying down the stairs and straight into Severus arms. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Lily," Severus replied putting his arms around her and burying his face in her hair. It was then that the baby decided to announce herself by giving him a strong kick. He pulled back and saw Lily's protruding stomach. "You're pregnant?"

"Yes, Sev," Lily took his hand and led him over to the couch and they sat down. "It happened the day Potter made that blackmail threat. I was so upset I forgot to cast the contraceptive spell on myself when we made love that night. I didn't suspect I was pregnant until after you had already left and my monthly friend didn't show up for the second month in a row."

"I'm going to be a dad," Severus said in amazement.

"Of a little girl," Lily added taking Severus hand and placing it over her stomach so he could feel her kicking. "She's really gotten active the last month. Healer Clarke says she thinks our daughter is going to be strongly magical because she could see her magical core at four months and she said most times she isn't able to see it until the sixth month."

"How far along are you?"

"I'm going into my sixth month," Lily said. "I'm going to be seeing Healer Clarke later this week so you can come with me. She can show you the baby if you want to see her."

Severus was still feeling a bit dazed by the news, but he was happy. He swore right then and there he would never be a father like his own. He took Lily's hand and said, "I promise you I'll be the best father I can be and I swear to you on my magic that I'll never be a father like my father was."

"I know you won't be, Sev," Lily said softly squeezing his hand. "I don't have any doubt that you'll be the best father ever."

That night as he lay in bed next to Lily with his hand over her stomach he tried to imagine what their daughter would look like. Would she have his straight hair or wavy like Lily's hair? Would she have black hair with his dark eyes or red hair with Lily's green eyes? Maybe she'd be dark-haired with green eyes or be a redhead with his dark eyes.

The next evening they were scheduled to go over to Lily's parents' house for dinner. As Severus got ready Lily could see he was nervous and she tried to reassure him, "Sev, mum and dad are thrilled at the thought of having another grandchild."

"But we're not married. I would think they would be concerned about that," Severus replied. "I mean we could get married before Jasmine's born. We could get married at the Registry office unless you'd prefer a Wizarding wedding and being bonded?"

"Sev, what I prefer right now is to go to over to my parents for dinner because I'm starving. We can talk about the wedding later."

"Okay," Severus agreed.

Both Iris and Richard greeted him warmly. "I think you even picked up a bit of a tan, Sev," Iris teased him.

"That was probably in Egypt during the last week," Severus replied.

"But you're still too thin," she added. "Everything's on the table so go sit down."

Severus seated Lily and then sat down. Richard carved the roasted chicken and passed the plates down. Iris made sure Severus' plate was filled practically to overflowing. He didn't mind as he had missed her cooking. He'd eaten a lot of exotic foods and fare, but he really preferred simple home cooking.

"Have you heard from Reg?" Severus asked Lily. "I just wondered how his training was going."

"She shook her head. "He wouldn't contact me, Sev. He still hasn't forgiven me completely for what happened fifth year and he doesn't trust me."

"I'll have to owl him to let him know I'm back and I invite him over for dinner."

They all wanted to know about Severus' trip so he told them about the many places he'd been to. "I was in Leningrad and met Boris's parents and his fiancée, Tatiana. They were all very nice. Boris parents own an apothecary in Leningrad, one in the Wizarding section of Moscow, and a third in the Wizarding section of Yalta. They tried to convince me to come and work for them once I got my mastery, but I told them I had a fiancée in England."

Lily squeezed his hand and he smiled. "I also met Kaemon's family in Japan. His parents and his younger brother and sister. It's a good thing Nicolas and Perenelle are able to speak several different languages between the two of them because I'd have been lost otherwise, especially in Japan. What's been happening here?"

"Just the usual, Sev," Iris said. "Prince Charles has a new girlfriend and the newscasters are trying to predict whether this girl will be 'the one'," she chuckled.

"I saw Potter about a week ago when Alice and I stopped in Gringotts." She giggled suddenly. "He stunk to high heavens and Zort shot a stinging hex at him and told him to get back to work."

"Not quite the handsome, dashing, Quidditch player now?" Severus sneered.

"No, and he got three more month of shoveling dragon dung yet."

"Maybe, his mummy can find him a girlfriend. MacDonald and McKinnon always had a thing for him, didn't they? Or maybe they don't think he's quite so charming now."

"I'm sure they still do even smelling like dragon dung and they fit his mummy's standards for the perfect Potter wife which I never did."

"I'm just glad he's out of our lives for good," Iris remarked cutting Severus a large piece of cherry pie.

"If I see him anywhere around here, believe me, smelling like dragon shit will be the least of his worries," Richard said.

Later in the week Severus accompanied Lily to see her healer. He was thrilled when Healer Clarke brought up the image of the baby in Lily's uterus and he could actually see his daughter. "I think this calls for a celebration," Severus said as they were leaving. "Would you like to join me for lunch and then a hot fudge sundae at Fortescue's?"

"That sound delicious and I accept your invitation," Lily replied taking hold of his arm.

They flooed from St. Mungo's to the Leaky Cauldron where they had lunch and then Severus opened the passageway to Diagon Alley. They walked down the street headed to Fortescue's when suddenly they suddenly heard a voice call out, "Severus Snape, I'm challenging you to a duel of honor for depriving me of my fiancée's affection and for sullying her."

Severus whirled around to find James standing outside of Gringotts, an evil smile on his face and twirling his wand around.

**A/N: **_Acclaro Parvulus_ **- **Reveal infant.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

Chapter 18

Witches and wizards scrambled to get out of the way; some of them screaming

Severus quickly pushed Lily behind him. Fortunately Seaman Blotts saw what was happening, ran outside, and pulled Lily, kicking and protesting, out of harm's way inside the store. Severus was thankful for his quick action.

Severus suddenly realized that in all the excitement of going to the healer with Lily and being able to see his daughter; he'd forgotten to put on his magical brace and his weak side was exposed. Potter of course knew about it and he figured he'd be aiming there with every spell. He had one very strong advantage and chance. Potter was an idiot; he always used the same signature spell, _Expelliarmus _and he'd never completely mastered non-verbal spells either. All this went through Severus' mind in a matter of seconds before he even pulled his wand out of the holster he wore on his forearm and thought, '_Expelliarmus_.' Potter's wand flew out of his hand, leaving his mouth gaping unattractively, and flew into Severus' hand. He tossed it aside and said, "Go bother someone else, Potter."

Severus turned around and walked towards Flourish & Blotts where Lily was waiting tensely by the front window. He didn't see James scramble to pick up his wand and yelled, "Snivellus! I challenged you to a duel and by Merlin's beard we're going to duel or else you'll admit you're a cowardly Death Eater and you've stolen Lily from me by using a dark, illegal potion on her!"

Severus turned around wand at ready and sent a non-verbal _Knockback Jinx_ that hit James, causing him to go skidding on his bum for a few feet. He shook his head, sneered at Potter, and started back towards the bookstore again not noticing that James had grabbed his wand and gotten to his feet.

"_Lanio_!" James suddenly shouted causing Severus to half-turn; wand raised exposing his weak side. He didn't have time to do a non-verbal '_Protego' _before James' spell hit him full force and for a few moments he was engulfed in a blue light that whirled him around.

"Sev!" Lily screamed.

Severus felt terrible pain in the spot where Mulciber's curse had hit him a year ago and then sudden warmth. He put his hand to his side and then looked at it, not shocked to see it was covered with blood. He felt his knees starting to buckle as he lost more blood and had a moment of clarity before he blacked out in which he wondered if he'd actually get to see his unborn daughter.

Lily screamed as she saw him fall to the ground, ran out of Flourish & Blotts and threw herself down beside him sobbing. She lifted his head into her lap. "Sev …"

Mr. Blott's came over. "Don't worry, Lily. I sent my Patronus to St. Mungo's summoning help for Severus and they should be arriving any minute."

A shadow fell over them and she looked up to see James standing over her, wand still out. "Get away from him, Lily," James ordered. "I'm arresting him and he's going to Azkaban for the Death Eater he is!"

Lily pulled out her wand and pointed it at James' groin area. "You come near him Potter and I can promise you they'll be no heirs to carry on the Potter name – ever!"

"Don't make me hex you, Evans," James threatened.

"You even try it Potter and you'll really be the no balls wonder!" Lily threatened.

There was a sudden crack and two Aurors appeared. Lily was relieved to see it was Kingsley and Ned. "Alright, wands down everybody," Ned said, motioning with his own.

Lily stowed her away again as Kingsley dropped to the ground beside Severus. "What happened here?"

"Potter challenged him to a duel. Sev disabled him twice and after the second time Sev was walking away; Potter called his name and when he turned around Potter hit him with a spell that tore open his curse wound." She looked down at Severus and gently brushed his hair out of his face. "He was so excited about the possibility of seeing his daughter. He must have forgotten to put on his brace this morning."

At that moment a portal opened and two medi-wizards dressed in purple robes rushed out and knelt beside Severus. One took out his wand and did a full body scan and when the parchment appeared he looked at it and said, "We need to get him to St. Mungo's immediately.

The other one nodded, took something out of his pocket that he tapped with his wand turning it into a full-sized stretcher while the other medi-wizard reopened the portal. They got Severus on the stretcher and rushed him through it with Lily all but running after them. They rushed him into a room, slamming the door after them. Lily slumped into a chair outside.

Reg happened to passing through on his lunch hour, spotted Lily and stopped short. He hurried over to her. "Lily, are you hurt? Have you been seen by a healer yet?"

"It not me that's hurt; it's Sev." She spoke so softly that he had to stoop down beside her to hear what she was saying. "Potter challenged him to a duel. Sev disarmed him twice, but Potter called his name and when Sev turned around; he cast some kind of spell that hit him where he'd been wounded before and tore it open again."

"I heard Healer Dordt paged and I know he's the curse wound specialist, but I never figured it was for Sev," he replied sitting down beside her.

Lily shifted in her chair and her coat fell open, exposing her protruding stomach. Reg looked shocked. "You're pregnant?"

Lily nodded. "I'm due in late July or early August according to my healer. Sev only found out he was going to be a father yesterday when he got home. He was so excited and he went with me to Healer Clarke this morning and she was able to bring up the baby so he could see her."

"I'm going to summon Healer Clarke," Reg said getting up. "You've had a bad shock and she'll probably want to check you and make sure you're okay."

At that moment Richard and Iris appeared in the corridor followed by Kingsley. He had obviously flooed to the Evans, told them what happened, and flooed them to St. Mungo's.

Lily!" Iris said enveloping her in a hug. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mum," Lily assured her. "It was Sev that was badly hurt. Potter cast some spell at him that tore open the scar from his curse wound."

"That goddamn Potter," Richard swore. "He ought to be confined to the nearest jail cell!"

Reg came back with Healer Clarke. She requested Lily to step into the nearest exam room.

Ned came down the hallway and nodded at Kingsley who excused himself from Mr. and Mrs. Evans. "What did you find out?" He asked softly.

"Potter claims he challenged Sev to a duel of honor; he claims he had every right because Lily broke their engagement and slept with Sev."

"Yes, but it happened _after_ she broke her engagement to Potter not while they were engaged."

"That's why I went back to headquarters and checked some of the law books. There _is_ still an ancient law on the books that allows duels of honor. It doesn't matter if anybody was actually dishonored; one party just has to _perceive_ he or she was dishonored and that's grounds enough to challenge another person to a duel."

"In other words, Potter had legal ground to challenge Sev to that duel and we can't arrest him," Kingsley said sourly.

"The witnesses I spoke to all said Sev tried to avoid dueling with Potter by doing simple spells to disarm him, but Potter kept getting back up and yelling out challenges and finally cast some spell they'd never heard before and that's what finally injured Sev."

"What was the spell?"

"Nobody could remember the exact word except they thought it started with an 'L'," Ned answered.

"In spite of being so dumb, this guy's smart enough to use legal means to injure Sev and cover his tracks." Kingsley said.

"Well, he is Dumbledore's protégé; he must have learned something off him."

"Go back to the office and look through the dark spell books and see if you can find that spell Potter used. It's some sort of cutting spell. I wouldn't past him to use a dark spell."

"Sev might be able to remember it when he wakes up."

"That might be a while. The first time this happened, the healers had him in a stasis spell for at least three days and he was unconscious for almost two weeks."

Ned whistled and then turned to go. "I'll have a look at those books and see what I can turn up. If Alastor's at headquarters I'll ask him to help. If anybody can find a particular dark spell it's him."

"When is Moody _not_ at headquarters?"

"True," Ned replied. "I'll let you know if I find anything." He headed back downstairs to floo to Auror headquarters. He wasn't able to apparate because St. Mungo's had anti-apparition wards around it to prevent patients from leaving without their healer's consent.

It was more than an hour before Healer Dordt and Healer Faircloud came out of the trauma room where Severus had been taken when he was brought in. Lily, Richard, Iris, and Kingsley all stood up. Lily had been checked out by Healer Clarke and Iris was assured that Lily was fine.

"What's the news, Ian?" Kingsley asked.

Ian shook his head. "It was touch and go for awhile. We almost lost him once, but we've got the bleeding stopped finally and we've put him under a stasis spell. What the hell was that spell used on him? It ought to be banned; it did a great deal of damage."

Kingsley shook his head. "Nobody seems to know. Ned's going through the dark spell books we have at headquarters to see if he can find it."

Healer Dordt shook his head. "If Severus had only remembered to wear his protective brace he might have walked away with just minor injuries."

"I want to see Sev," Lily said.

"He's not conscious and he won't know you're there," Ian said. "I think it would be better if you went home and got some rest."

"Sev will know I'm there. He did last time," Lily said firmly.

"Alright, Miss Evans," Healer Dordt said. "But no more than five minutes."

"Five minutes every hour," Lily negotiated.

"That's acceptable as long as you get some sleep in between and I think Healer Clarke would agree with me on this,"

"Agreed," Lily went inside Severus room and over to his bed. As before he was completely surrounded by the blue stasis spell so she couldn't even hold his hand.

"Sev, Healer Dordt and Faircloud say you're going to be okay. They've got you in a stasis spell so I can't even touch you and they're only letting me see you for five minutes every hour, but I _will_ be here for those five minutes every hour." She continued to talk to him as a medi-witch came into the room to administer more of the blood replenishing potion. "When you get better, Sev I think you should work on improving the blood replenishing potion so patients don't have to take it as often. I can help you with it too."

During the next hour she talked to him about Jasmine. "I've been thinking about when Jasmine is eleven. I don't want her to go to Hogwarts, especially not if Dumbledore's still headmaster. I was thinking we could home school her maybe."

Lily was curled up asleep beside Severus' bed. She had transfigured a chair into a small sofa she could sleep comfortably on and the medi-witch had gotten her a blanket. She woke when Healer Dordt came to check on Sev. She sat up and watched as Dordt waved his wand over Severus. In a few seconds a piece of parchment appeared. Healer Dordt took it and studied the information on it.

"Is Sev alright, Healer Dordt?"

"His vital signs have stabilized and they're stronger than they were when Healer Faircloud checked him two hours ago. If he keeps up this progress we may be able to take him out of the Stasis spell in a few days."

"Do you think Sev will be well enough to be with me when our daughter is born?" Lily asked and then added, "I'm due at the end of July or first week in August. It would break Sev's heart if he wasn't able to be there."

"I'm sure if he follows my advice and doesn't engage in anymore duels, he should be recovered enough in time for that."

Lily smiled. "Since Sev is doing much better, I'm going home for awhile, but I will be back." When she left the room she bumped into Kingsley who was about to go in. "How's Sev doing?"

"Healer Dordt just examined him and said his vital signs have stabilized and they're strong. He said if he keeps progressing they might be able to take him out of the Stasis spell in a few days."

"That's a relief," Kingsley replied.

"Did Ned find anything out about the spell Potter used on Severus?"

"Ned's still looking, but chances are if we do find it we'll find out it's an old defensive spell that was legal at one time, forgotten about, and was never declared illegal and taken off the books. Mad-Eye says the Wizengamot really needs to go through these ancient law books and make some of the spells illegal. He and Orion are going to talk to Scrimgeour about it and see if he'll bring it up to the Wizengamot."

"Dumbledore's the Chief Mugwump so nothing will be done and Potter will get away with almost murdering Sev again," Lily replied angrily.

"Again? You mean there was another time before him blatting out that lie in the Leaky Cauldron that Sev had offered himself to Dumbledore to spy on You-Know-Who and setting Death Eaters on him?" Kingsley asked aghast.

"Yes. There was a boy in our year who suffered from Lycanthropy. He used to go to the Shrieking Shack to transform. Potter and Black deliberately tricked Sev into going down into a tunnel that went under the Whopping Willow, knowing he would meet a fully transformed Werewolf at the end of it. It gave Potter the chance to play the big hero and pretend to rescue Sev, but neither of them would have been upset if Sev had been ripped to pieces by the time he decided to stage his 'rescue'."

Kingsley shook his head. "With what I've witnessed from Potter at the Order meetings, I'm not surprised at all. I'm going to check on Sev and then floo back to the office to see what progress Ned and Mad-Eye have made. I'll also let everybody in our group know. Everybody's been asking about Sev, but I haven't had anything to tell them until now."

Lily nodded and flooed home. It was Sunday morning and her father was reading the paper while her mum was getting breakfast. It was comforting to see the usual Sunday morning routine.

Richard put down the paper as Lily stepped out of the fireplace. "How's Sev doing?"

Lily, is that you?" Iris called from the kitchen. "Come out here and sit down. I'm getting breakfast on the table right now. You must be starving."

The smells from the kitchen were enticing and Lily suddenly realized she _was_ starving.

"Best not to keep your mother waiting," Richard said with a smile. He and Lily walked out into the kitchen and sat down. Iris brought the teapot over to the table and set it down than sat down next to her husband. They filled their plates from the platter in the middle of the table and poured themselves tea. "Lily was just about to tell me how Sev is doing when you called us to breakfast," Richard said.

Lily told him what Healer Dordt had told her. "He said they might be able to take Sev out of stasis in a few days if he keeps getting better. I asked him if Sev would be well enough to be with me when Jasmine is born and he said he should be if he follows all his instructions."

"What about charging Potter with attempted murder?" Richard growled.

Lily sighed and explained what Kingsley had told her.

"So Potter finds some obscure law and decides to exploit it to his advantage?" Iris asked in dismay.

"It's starting to look that way, Mum."

"That's the best they can do?" Richard asked in disgust. "Potter can go around 'legally' hurting people and without any consequences?"

Kingsley said Alastor is going to convince Rufus to go before the Wizengamot and get some of those old laws made illegal," Lily shrugged. "But since Dumbledore's the Supreme Mugwump, probably nothing will be done." She got up. "I'm going to take a shower, change, and go back to the hospital." When she arrived at the hospital, she settled back onto her transfigured couch and took one of her textbooks out of her book bag she'd brought with her and began studying. Around lunch time there was a knock on the door and Reg stuck his head in.

"Come on in, Reg," Lily said.

"Reg came in carrying a picnic basket. He looked rather embarrassed. "When my mum heard from dad about what happened to Sev and that you were staying with him; she had Kreacher make up this for you. There's probably enough in there for three meals."

"That was very nice of her," Lily said. "Will you please thank her for me?"

"Sure," Reg said. His eyes wandered over to Severus. "How's he doing?"

"Healer Dordt said his vital signs had stabilized and were stronger." Lily opened the basket and looked inside it. "There is a lot of food in here. Why don't you join me if you're on your lunch break?"

Reg grinned. "I was hoping you'd ask. Kreacher packs a mean lunch basket!"

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Sunday morning dawned rainy and chilly. James got out of his warm bed, thankful it was Sunday and he didn't have to shovel dragon dung at Gringotts today, but he did receive an invitation for breakfast with Albus so he needed to hurry.

"James?" His mother called as he hurried down the staircase.

"I'm having breakfast with Albus today, Mum," he called. "I'll see you later," James called. He stepped into the fireplace, threw down the floo powder and said, "Headmaster's office, Hogwarts."

Albus was waiting as he stepped out of the floo. "Oh good, James," Albus said. He extended his hand towards the squashy armchairs in front of his desk. "I'll summon Twinky and have her bring us breakfast."

"Are we planning something special for You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters?" James asked eagerly. He chuckled. "At least we have one less Death Eater to fight. I hear I put Snivellus in the hospital for the next month."

"That's what I wanted to discuss with you, James …" Albus was interrupted by Twinky popping in with breakfast. "Thank you, Twinky," Albus said taking the tray from her.

"You is welcome, Mr. Headmaster Dumbledore," Twinky bowed and popped out again.

"Please serve yourself, James," Albus said as he poured tea.

James filled his plate and accepted the cup of tea from Albus. He settled back in his squashy armchair with a sigh of satisfaction. "You were saying, Albus?"

This time Dumbledore sighed. "James, since your father is gone and he was a good friend of mine; I consider you my son – the son I never had."

"Thanks, Albus," James replied smiling broadly while wondering if Albus was planning to tell him he was leaving him the Dumbledore fortune.

"I'm concerned about your growing obsession with Snape. It's going to get you in serious trouble and I mean trouble that will land you in Azkaban. I know Snape's despicable and deserved everything you gave him during school and afterwards, but I need you and the Order needs you; you're our bravest and best fighter so I don't want you lose you. I think it's time for you to focus on something else that will take your mind off Snape and I think getting married would be just the ticket."

"What!" James yelled almost dropping his plate of food.

"Now, James if your father was alive, he'd be having the very same talk with you and since he's not; I've decided I should do it. You're 20 years old and it's time you found a good witch and settled down. You also need to think about an heir. You're the last Potter and if you don't have an heir; it will mean the end of the Potter name and fortune. Why, you're fortune could even end up in Snape's hands; I believe you are distinctly related through the Prince's."

"But …but who will I marry? I'm a Potter and I can't just marry an old witch off the street!"

"What about either Marlene McKinnon or Mary MacDonald? They're both from unassailable Light families with excellent ancestry and they're both strong fighters and despise the dark arts."

"I …I don't know, Albus. I mean Mary was my housemate, of course and we went out a few time. Marlene was a year ahead of me, but our families have always been good friends, but …marriage?"

Albus also thought about Edgar Bones' daughter, Emma who'd been a year mate of James, but in Hufflepuff. He hadn't heard from Edgar since he'd left the Order due to his not understanding the importance of James' role. He dismissed the idea, assuming Edgar would never consent to a betrothal between his daughter and James anyway.

"I know you're surprised, but I think it would be a good thing. I will, of course approach the parents of whomever you choose. You can have your wedding at Potter Manor or even at Hogwarts. Think about what I've said and give me your decision next week."

James looked more than a bit pale and sickly as he flooed back home, knowing that if he didn't make a decision; Albus would force the issue with his mother.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Reg came downstairs from his bedroom at Grimmauld Place when he heard the floo sound. Siri was having dinner with them today. He'd been spending a lot of time with his parents and himself. Reg had a suspicion that Siri was attempting to make up for judging and abandoning them in favor of the Potters. He joined the rest of his family in the drawing room. Kreacher popped in a few minutes later to announce that dinner was on the table.

Orion led Walburga into the dining room with Sirius and Reg following them. He seated his wife and sat down. Reg and Sirius sat between them. Orion began slicing the roast and passing the plates down the table. Once they had their plates they filled them from the other bowls on the table.

"Lily asked me to thank you for the lunch basket you sent her. She said it was a very nice thing for you to do," Reg said.

"Well, a pregnant woman shouldn't be skipping meals," Walburga replied. "She is eating for two now."

Sirius looked up with a shocked expression on his face. "Lily's pregnant?" He'd been concentrating so hard on his studies at the Academy; he was out of the Loop.

"Yes, her and Sev are going to have a baby at the end of July or beginning of August," Reg replied.

"Whoa! Does Potter know?"

"If he didn't before he does now after almost killing Sev in a supposed duel of 'honor.' As if that dirtbag would know anything about honor. Too bad Kingsley and Ned Crockford arrived when they did; Lily was going to hex Potter's balls off!"

"Regulus Arcturus Black!" Walburga scolded him.

"Sorry, Mum," Reg apologized.

"Merlin! I'll bet Potter's got a burr up his …" He glanced at his mum and said, "His backside about that!"

"More than likely, I'd guess."

"I'm so glad you convinced me to quit hanging around with Potter," Sirius said. "Or else I'd probably be shoveling dragon dung right beside him at Gringotts and kicked out of the Auror Academy to boot!"

"I'm glad you decided to listen to us," Orion said gruffly. "We thought we'd lost you for good."

"Sirius always had a hard head, dad, but I guess he isn't completely stupid," Reg joked and had to duck quickly to avoid being hit with a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

It was five days after he'd been injured by James when Healers Dordt and Faircloud decided to bring Severus out of the stasis spell. They requested Lily to be as Severus would respond to her voice better than theirs.

They waved their wand over Severus and chanted, "Expergefacio."

Lily watched as the stasis spell around Sev grew fainter and fainter, finally disappearing completely.

"Now remember he's going to be a bit groggy and he probably won't remember what happened to him and will be confused," Ian cautioned Lily.

"Alright, Lily try calling his name," Healer Dordt said.

Lily leaned over him, gently brushing his hair out of his face. "Sev? Sev, wake up. It's time to come back."

Severus eyes opened and he blinked several times. He looked around the room and asked in a faint voice, "Where am I?"

"You're at St. Mungo's. You were a hurt by Potter exactly a week ago and you've been unconscious since then," Lily explained.

Severus brow wrinkled in confusion. "But who are you people?"


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 19**

"Sev …" Lily started to say.

Healer Dordt motioned for her to be quiet and then said calmly, "I know you must be very confused, Severus, but you were hurt quite badly in a duel a week ago. I am Healer Dordt and this is Healer Faircloud. We've both been treating the injuries you received. If you don't feel too tired; I'd like to ask you a few questions.

Severus nodded. He didn't know what else to do at the moment.

"Can you tell me your name?"

Severus looked at Healer Dordt as if he thought it was a really stupid question and then said, "Severus Tiberius Snape."

"Do you recall when you were born?"

"Of course. January 9, 1960."

"What about your age?"

"I'm twenty."

"And your address?"

"Spinners End, Manchester

"What year did you graduate from Hogwarts?

"1978. I was Head Boy my last year."

"And the names of your parents?"

Tobias Snape and Eileen Prince Snape. My grandfather's name was Tiberius Prince and my grandmother's name was Audra. My other grandparents were Freddy and Katie Snape."

"Do you remember what you're studying to be?"

"A potion master. I graduated from the College of Potions in two years and I'm currently apprenticing under Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel."

"Do you recall Kingsley Shacklebolt?" Ian asked as he took over the questioning from Dordt.

"Yes, he's an Auror and a friend of mine."

"Do you recall a family named Evans?"

"Yes, they live four blocks up from me. Richard and Iris Evans and their two daughters Petunia and Lily. Lily is the same age as me. She's a witch and we used to be good friends, but I called her a nasty name when she tried to help me when I was being humiliated by her housemate and his friends, some toff named Potter. I apologized, but she refused to forgive me and said we were through as friends. I've since heard she and Potter got engaged. I guess she wasn't such a good friend after all if she's marrying the guy who bullied me from day one of Hogwarts."

Lily covered her mouth to prevent a gasp from escaping. Severus obviously had no memory of current events.

"Do you remember how you got hurt?"

"Yes. Pisshead Potter challenged me to a duel of honor because he thought I was sleeping with Lily. As if she'd even bother to look cross-eyed at me. I tried to avoid dueling the git because we were right in the middle of Diagon Alley and innocent people could have been hurt, but I guess I wasn't successful," Severus grimaced as he looked at the bandages around him.

"We'll let you rest, Severus, but I'll need to come back later to check on and redress your wound," Healer Dordt said.

Severus nodded, closed his eyes and was asleep within minutes.

Dordt and Faircloud escorted Lily out of Severus' room. "I don't understand," Lily mumbled. "It's like Sev remembers some of last year, but not all of it."

"I understand from the Medi-Wizards that he apparently hit his head pretty hard on the cobblestones when he fell," Ian replied. "They had to treat him for a pretty bad head laceration before they could move him. He may just be suffering from the effects of that."

"Yes, that's true. Do you think that might be the reason?" Lily asked hopefully.

"It's certainly a possibility," Ian replied.

"Maybe, I'll go home and come back later when Sev wakes up," she decided.

After Lily left, Healer Dordt shook his head and said to Ian, "You don't believe that anymore than I do."

Ian shook his head. "No. I've never seen an amnesia that was so specific. Severus appears to remember everything about last year except anything to do with Miss Evans."

"And this tells me there's a reason for that. I'm going to have Master Mind Healer Cromwell take a look at him."

Ian nodded in agreement. "Good idea."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Lily returned to her parents' house where she was staying until Severus was released from St. Mungo's. Iris and Richard felt uneasy having her staying alone at Sev's house after what Potter had done to him. They were afraid he might try something with Lily. She was surprised to see Kingsley seated in the living room talking to Richard.

"Hello there, Lily," her dad called. "We invited Kingsley over for dinner so your mother and I could pick his brain."

Lily dropped into a chair. "Pick Kingsley brain about what?"

"I wanted to see if there's anything equivalent to a temporary protective order in the Wizarding World that could keep Potter away from you and Sev."

"Dad, it wouldn't do any good anyway," Lily pointed out. "A spell can reach farther than a hundred feet."

"There isn't anything like what you mentioned," Kingsley admitted. "But if we can prove some way that Potter misused his wand at some time; we can use this old law that Moody and Ned found still on the books that can suspend a witches or wizards wand usage for up to a year."

"That would be great," Richard said. "But what does misuse of a wand mean? I would think all the crap Potter pulled on Sev during school and after would count as misuse of his wand."

"The biggest misuse of your wand would be hexing Muggles or continually doing magic in front of them," Lily said.

Iris called them to dinner and after they passed the food around and everybody filled their plates, Iris asked, "How's Sev? In he still unconscious?"

"Merlin's beard!" Lily exclaimed. "I almost forgot to tell you! Sev's regained consciousness, but his doesn't have any memory of the last year or at least where I'm concerned. He thinks I'm still engaged to Potter. Ian thinks it might be caused by Sev hitting his head on the cobblestones when he collapsed after Potter hit him with that spell."

"He remembers his name, birth date and all the other information they always ask you when you first regain consciousness then," Iris said.

Lily nodded. "He just doesn't remember we're engaged or that we're going to have a baby."

"That's odd," Kingsley remarked. "Usually if you're suffering from even a temporary amnesia; you don't recall anything, but I expect Ian's correct; it's a side effect of Sev hitting his head."

"I hope you're right, Kingsley," Iris said. "It would be terrible if he couldn't remember he's going to have a daughter after he was so excited when he found out he was going to be a father."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

James slouched on a couch in the library at Potter Manor alone. His mum was out at some fancy dinner to benefit the Hogsmeade Orphanage. His late father and his mother were big patrons of it. He'd declined to go. What did he care about a bunch of orphaned brats? He had more important things to think about such as Dumbledore's threat to marry him off.

The library door opened and Dazzy came in. "Mr. Pettigrew has arrived, Master James."

"Well, just don't stand there like an idiot. Show him in," James ordered.

"Yes, Master James," she replied.

Peter came into the library and his eyes lit up at the spread of food on the coffee table. With the desertion of Moony and Padfoot; he had become James closest friend.

"Wormtail!" James exclaimed sitting up. "Good to see you! Help yourself!" He said motioning to the food. Wormtail was a dolt, but he was better than nothing especially since Padfoot had deserted him.

Peter sat down and proceeded to fill his plate. "So what new, Prongs? I heard you put Snivellus in the hospital."

"I did," James replied proudly, but then his expression faded. "Albus is pushing me to get married. He said if I don't decide on my own; he'll inform my mum and they'll make the decision for me."

Peter's mouth dropped open. "Can he do that? Force you to marry somebody, I mean?"

"Apparently, he thinks he can and my mum's always going on about us needing an heir to prevent the Potter fortune from falling into the wrong hands – even Snivellus' hand. I think were distantly related to the Princes in some way."

Wormtail sat with his mouth hanging open much to James' annoyance. "Well …who does he think you should marry?"

"He suggested either Mary or Marlene since there's no doubt about them being from true light families."

Mary's not bad looking, but of course it's what she like in the sack that counts the most."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel had come to visit Severus and assure him he was not to worry about his apprenticeship and to take his time healing. They told him he was one of the most, if not the most brilliant apprentices they'd ever had and they were not about to lose him. Shortly after they left, Master Mind Healer Heathcote Cromwell knocked on the door and stuck in head in. "May I come in, Mr. Snape?"

Severus looked up from the potion magazine he was reading. "It depends."

"Depends on what?"

"What you're here for. If you're a lawyer for James Potter claiming I caused him some fake injury; you can go jump off the roof."

"No, I can assure you I'm not a lawyer. My name is Heathcote Cromwell and I'm a Master Mind Healer."

"Oh! The amnesia, I suppose," Severus replied uninterestedly. "Come in." He closed the magazine and laid it on his bedside table.

Cromwell came in, pulled up a chair and sat down. "Healers Dordt and Faircloud are concerned about the specific blanks in your memory – particularly the ones concerning Miss Evans."

"I don't recall any blanks about Evans. We were friends once, Potter and his buddies liked to bully me in the most humiliating way possible. She thought one of their 'sessions' was funny before she remembered she was supposed to be my friend and starting yelling at them to let me down. I told her I didn't need her help and called her a nasty name. She got mad and called me by a particularly odious name Potter came up with. I tried to apologize her later, but she wouldn't accept it and told me were couldn't be friends anymore. She got engaged to my worst enemy our last year and I expect she's married by now. I imagine Potter couldn't wait to show off his prize."

"Would it surprise you to know she broke her engagement to Mr. Potter almost a year ago? That you and she started dating, got engaged last Christmas and are expecting your first child, a girl, I understand in late July or early August?"

"What?" Severus said and then laughed, "You're joking, right?"

"No, Severus. I'm serious, but I'm also curious as to why you can't remember anything about your recent relationship with Miss Evans. You appear to have blocked out anything to do with her during the last year."

"I don't know why I'd do that when I've wished for two years she would have accepted my apology. We were good friends until we got to Hogwarts and got sorted into rival houses that made it impossible to be seen together and I got targeted by her bully boy housemate and his cronies."

"Severus, would you permit me to hypnotize you and possibly find out why you are blocking this? I won't do it today as you need to rest, but I'd like your permission to try it in a couple of day."

Severus shrugged. "I guess. I mean if I'm deliberately blocking Lily out; it would probably be good to find out why."

"Good. I'll come back in a couple of days and we'll do it then."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

James was sitting in Dumbledore's office sulking and waiting for Dumbledore to appear. In a moment Dumbledore swished in wearing one of his more garish robes, bright purple decorated with silver unicorns. His hat matched exactly. He sat down behind his desk. "Well, James I'm glad to see you've come to a decision. Who have you decided to wed?"

"Mary, I guess. I know she always had a crush on me from first year and she never trusted Evans' friendship with Snivellus either."

"Miss MacDonald it is," Dumbledore said. "I will approach her father about the betrothal."

"Great," James muttered. His life was going so great so far. Snivellus had caused him to get kicked out of the Auror Academy, Padfoot had abandoned him, he had to shovel dragon dung for six months and be ordered around by a bunch of arrogant goblins, and now he had to get married.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Mr. MacDonald sat with his arms crossed over his chest as he listened to Dumbledore's proposal to betroth his daughter to the Potter heir. He was a big man, used to dealing with cows and sheep as the MacDonald name was well known for their milk and sheep's wool. "What would this involve?"

"You just need to sign papers that will make the betrothal official," Dumbledore replied smoothly.

"But if anything happens to me, the farm goes to my eldest son and not to the Potters. I want that in writing."

"Of course, of course," Dumbledore agreed.

"I'll speak with Mary tonight and if she agrees; I'll floo to Hogwarts with Mary and my barrister tomorrow and we can sign the betrothal papers then."

"Excellent!" Albus said. "I will see you at ten o'clock in my office." He quickly flooed away before Mr. MacDonald could think up any more questions to ask. He flooed over to Potter Manor where James and his mother were having a late breakfast.

"Albus," Althea called as he stepped out of the fireplace. "Do come in and have a spot of breakfast and tea."

"Thank you, but I just came by to tell you that I've spoken with Mary's father and he's agreeable to the betrothal. They'll be in my office at ten tomorrow to sign the betrothal papers."

"Mary's a Pureblood and will make Jamie a fine wife, I'm sure," Althea said. "Much better than that slutty, Muggleborn Evans girl who didn't know the first thing about being the wife of a prominent Pureblood wizard and wasn't the least bit interested in learning. Jamie and I will floo over at ten tomorrow."

"I will see you then," Dumbledore said, giving her a slight bow. He quickly flooed back to his office. He knew James wasn't happy with his decision, but marriage would settle him down and take his mind off Lily.

The next morning promptly at ten o'clock, Mary, her father and his barrister flooed into Dumbledore's office. Within a few minutes Althea Potter, James and their barrister flooed in. Both barristers immediately set to examining the betrothal papers, making sure there were no hidden clauses or loopholes. When they both pronounced themselves satisfied, Mrs. Potter, James, Mr. MacDonald, and Mary signed the papers and Dumbledore signed as the Bonder.

"You can have a summer wedding and have it here at Hogwarts. Say, in August," Albus announced.

"I don't know Albus," Althea said. "It takes at least six month to plan a proper wedding."

"If anyone can do it in five months, it is you, Althea."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Severus was reading when there was a knock on his door. "Come in," he called.

Lily came in, closing the door behind her. "Hi, Sev."

"Hello, Lily." Severus replied. He had a hard time figuring out what he was feeling just now; he felt very conflicted. He looked at her and his eyes slid down to her protruding stomach. "Umm …sit down why don't you."

"Thank you," Lily said, sitting down. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. How are you?"

"We're fine. Jasmine's been really active lately especially when I'm trying to concentrate in class," Lily replied with a laugh.

Severus smiled. He felt warm inside and knew he could never leave Lily or his daughter even if it meant Pothead would be part of his life too forever. He lowered his head and said softly, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? None of this was your fault."

"I'm sorry because I was considering that if you weren't in my life, Potter wouldn't be either and the only way I could be free of him would be to leave you, but I know now I could never do that. I could never leave you and Jasmine. I'm so sorry."

Lily got up and sat down on Severus' bed next to him. She put her arms around him and let his head rest on her shoulder. She could feel his shoulders shaking slightly. Was he crying? She'd never seen Sev cry in all the time she'd known him. Not after his father beat him or when the Marauders were at their worst bullying him. She felt his hand move to rest on her stomach and she felt Jasmine move in response.

There was another knock on his door. Severus sat up, self-consciously wiping his eyes. Lily got up to answer the door and found Remus standing outside. "Is this a bad time?"

"No, of course not; come in," Lily replied.

Remus came in and stood somewhat awkwardly. "Hello, Severus. I'm sorry none of us has visited you sooner. We all wanted to come and see you, but figured you weren't up to a room full of visitors so I said I would see how you were and report back."

Severus cleared his throat. "It's okay, Remus. I only regained consciousness two days ago."

"Sit down, Remus," Lily invited. She transfigured the chair she'd been sitting on into a small sofa and Remus sat down next to her.

"How are things with the double W's?" Severus asked.

"Moody still has us watching the old Riddle Mansion in Little Hangleton. He's gotten good information from Malfoy that it's You-Know-Who's main headquarters."

"Malfoy?" Severus asked. "Why would he help us?"

Remus grinned. "I guess Azkaban's not up to his usual standards. He offered to turn spy for Moody if he could get him released. Arthur agreed it was a good idea and we should accept his offer."

"He won't last long – You-Know-Who's going to smell something fishy. Nobody gets out of Azkaban unless they can prove they were _Imperiused_ or they made some sort of deal."

"Either one is not going to sit well with You-Know-Who," Lily added.

"Moody and Arthur are still working on that, but Malfoy being a top lieutenant of You-Know-Who's has a lot of useful information that could benefit us."

"If we can trust him," Severus said.

"Well, I think the threat that his freedom depends on his cooperation will keep him in line," Remus remarked. "Oh! Bye the way, we have a new member."

"Who?" Lily asked.

"Sirius. Reg and I talked him into joining, but he'll be on probation until we can be sure he'll follow orders. I had lunch with him today; Peter happened to come into the Leaky Cauldron and we heard some other interesting news."

"What's that?" Lily asked.

"James got betrothed this morning to Mary MacDonald. It was Dumbledore's idea; I guess he figures marriage will keep him out of trouble."

"She always did think the sun shone out of his arse," Lily said. "Right from first year."

"Where I'm concerned; I don't think it's going to make a difference. Potter hates my guts and he'll use any opportunity he can to make sure I know it."

"Kingsley, Mad-Eye, and Ned are looking for ways to keep Potter at bay. They did find an old law that's still on the books about a witch or wizard having their wand usage suspended for up to a year for misuse," Lily explained. "The only problem is Potter would have to be caught misusing his wand."

"And that's not likely," Severus finished for her. "I assume he got off with no punishment for this," he said pointing at his side.

"Yes, he found an old law that said he had the right to challenge you to a duel of honor. It doesn't matter whether anybody was actually dishonored; they only have to perceive they were dishonored." Lily said.

"Figures," Severus grumbled. "Potter always comes out smelling like a rose no matter what he does."

"More like dragon dung," Lily giggled.

Remus left saying he was going over to the Weasley's for dinner and he would let them know how Severus was doing. "You might be getting a lot of visitors in the next couple of days."

Lily sat back down on Severus' bed again and held his hands but another knock on the door interrupted them and Healer Cromwell came in. He saw Lily sitting with Severus who was looking completely content and smiled and then said, "Well, it's good to see my services aren't needed after all. I'll check in with you later, Severus." He left the room, letting the door shut quietly after him.

Lily looked quizzically at Severus. "Who was that, Sev?"

"Healer Cromwell; he's a master mind healer and he was going to hypnotize me and see if he could resolve my amnesia, but it's not necessary now."

In the next few days, Severus had a lot of visitors, mostly from Weasley's Warriors. Arthur and Molly came to visit with Bill, Charlie and Percy. Molly also brought a delicious apple crumble with her. Kingsley and Ned were frequent visitors as were Alice and Frank Longbottom. Alice was due around the same time as Lily. Edgar Bones and Benjy Fenwick came to visit as did Filius and Remus. Even Aberforth, grumpy as ever, left the Hogs Head to pay a visit.

After almost a month in the hospital, Healers Dordt and Faircloud decided Severus was well enough to go home on the condition he stay in bed and do nothing that would aggravate his wound. Lily and her dad drove down from Manchester to pick him up since he was unable to apparate or floo. As before, Lily cast a spell on the car to enlarge the backseat so he could lie down for the drive home. It was raining and chilly when they finally arrived at Spinners End. Richard helped him into his house. The wonderful smells of Iris' homemade beef noodle soup, freshly baked bread and cherry cobbler greeted him as he came in the door. Richard helped him into bed and he fell immediately asleep.

Petunia and Vernon had driven to Manchester from Little Whinging and were going to spend the night and return to Surrey in the morning. Lily, her parents, Petunia and Vernon were eating dinner in the dining room. Iris decided it was probably better to let Severus sleep rather than wake him to eat.

"This soup is delicious, Iris, and it hits the spot with it being so rainy and chilly outside," Vernon said.

"Thank you, Vernon," Iris said. She looked over at Lily who had put down her spoon and was glancing up at the ceiling. Severus' bedroom was right over the dining room. "What is it, dear?"

"I think Sev may be awake," Lily answered getting up from her chair. "If he's trying to get up without help I swear I'm going to stick his bum to the bed with a sticking charm!" She hurried as fast as she was able to in her seventh month of pregnancy up the stairs and down the hall. She knocked on the door of Severus' room and said, "Sev, I'm coming in." She opened the door and looked in. As she had suspected he was out of bed, but hadn't gotten far. He was, in fact, clutching one of the bedposts for dear life.

"Severus Tobias Snape!" Lily snapped, hurrying over to him. "What on earth are you trying to do?" She scolded him. He leaned heavily on her as she helped him sit down on the bed. She was shocked at how thin he was. She could not only feel his ribs, but see them as well

"I was going to the loo. I thought I could make it, but it's more of an effort than I realized."

"Do you realize you could have fallen and torn your side open again?" Lily glared at him, her hands on her hips. She brushed his hair out of his face and said, "I'll get dad." She turned to go and then swung around, thrusting her finger at him. "And don't you dare move an inch in the meantime or I swear I'll put a sticking charm on your bum and stick you to the mattress."

Severus smiled as she left the room. He wouldn't dare move because Lily _would_ do exactly as she threatened.

Lily came back downstairs. "Dad, could you help Sev while I get him something to eat?"

"Of course, Lily," Richard said, getting up.

Lily went into the kitchen, got a bowl from the cupboard and ladled some of the beef noodle soup into it, added three thick slices of buttered bread, and cut a piece of the cherry cobbler. She put it all on a tray along with a spoon, a napkin and a glass of pumpkin juice. Her dad was just coming back downstairs as Lily came in from the kitchen.

Iris nodded at the tray. "Sev needs to eat. He's lost a lot of weight and he was already too thin to be going on with."

Richard shook his head. "Well, being in the hospital for almost a month probably hasn't helped. Hospital food is generally tasteless and not the least bit appealing."

"I'll make sure he eats even if I have to feed him myself," Lily said. She carried the tray upstairs and knocked on the bedroom door then pushed it open with her hip and went in.

Severus was lying in bed with his eyes closed, but she was pretty sure he hadn't fallen asleep again. She set the tray down on the dresser, went over to the bed and shook him gently. "Sev, I've got dinner and I want you to eat it while it's hot." She bent over him. "Here, lean forward just a bit and I'll prop up your pillows."

He did as Lily asked. She fluffed his pillows and then propped them up behind him. "Okay, lay back now." She took out her wand, levitated the tray from the dresser over to Severus and gently lowered it down in front of him. "I want to see you eat all of that. Mum and I agree that you're much too thin. How often did you eat while you were traveling?"

Severus started eating, "I ate enough, but we did a lot of walking too, touring fields of potion ingredients." He started to eat again and then stopped and pointed at her. "Did you eat? " Severus asked. "I mean …you do need to eat."

"I was just finishing up when you decided to try and get out of bed, but I think I could do with another piece of that cherry cobbler although Jasmine will probably keep me awake all night doing spins from the sugar rush," Lily said with a giggle. She sat down on the bed beside him and ate some of the cobbler while he ate the soup and bread. He put down his spoon. "This is really good. I think I could do with another bowl and some more of that bread."

"I'll be right back," Lily said lifting up the tray. She went downstairs and as she passed her family she said. "Sev wants a second helping of soup and more bread."

"Good!" Iris nodded. "He seems to have an appetite and that's a good thing."

Lily brought the soup and bread back upstairs and set the tray down in front of Severus. "Eat up."

"St. Mungo's should hire your mum to cook. Their food looked like crap and tasted like it too!"

"I guess I have advanced warning of what I'm in store for when I have Jasmine," Lily joked.

"Better to be prepared," Severus joked in return.

Tuney, Vernon and Lily's parents came upstairs to say goodbye to Severus before they left.

"I'll be over to make your breakfast as soon as Richard leaves for work," Iris said. Vernon and Petunia were planning to drive into London and would be stopping for breakfast on the way.

"There's no reason to come over so early, Iris," Severus said. "I'm pretty tired and I'll probably be sleeping later."

"Well, I do want to make sure Lily has breakfast before she leaves for college so I may be over at six. I can always make yours later."

"Whatever works best for you is fine with me."

After her family had left, Lily got undressed and slipped into bed beside Severus. As she had predicted Jasmine was very active and Severus could feel her soft pummeling. "No more sugar for you," he mumbled placing his hand over Lily's stomach and rubbing gently.

Lily was up at six and had eaten breakfast and flooed over to the college by seven. Iris knocked on Severus' door about eight. "Sev, are you awake? Would you like breakfast now?"

"Yes, please, Iris. I'm really hungry," Severus called back.

Iris returned in a few minutes with a tray that held a plate with an omelet, bacon, sausages, and fried potatoes. She also brought a teapot with his favorite tea. The **_Daily Prophet_** was folded next to his plate.

"There's some interesting news in the paper today. I think you'll be very pleased about it. I know Richard, Lily and I am."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He opened the paper and the first thing he saw was the headline, **_'James Potter's Wand Privileges Suspended for a Year!'_**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 20**

"Well, I'll be damned," Severus exclaimed after reading the story. "Potter was caught causing one of his Muggle neighbors' lawn to grow outrageously so the guy had to mow it twice a day, every day and causing another of his Muggle neighbors' paint on their house to peel continuously so he had to re-paint it."

"I'm betting he doesn't think it's so funny now as the joke turned out to be on him," Iris remarked. "How did they catch him doing it I wonder?"

"MLE must have been keeping an eye on him or else another wizard or witch in the neighborhood turned him in," Severus said. "Maybe, it was the Longbottom's. Their manor house isn't too far from Potter's.

Iris took Severus' tray. "Maybe Kingsley, Mr. Moody, Ned, or that nice young man, Frank Longboot who's his partner, will stop by and we can find out the whole story."

"Possibly," Severus said grinning at Iris' mispronunciation of Longbottom. "I'm just glad he got caught and his wand usage will be terminated for an entire year. Thank Merlin he was always crappy at non-verbal spells and has no talent for wandless magic at all!"

"I'm going back home for a bit. If you need anything, you can send your owl, but absolutely _no _getting out of bed," Iris warned.

Severus smiled. "Yes ma'am."

Before she'd left Lily had piled everything she thought he could possibly need on his bedside table, including potion magazines, books, parchment, quills, and a bottle of ink. She'd left both Boadicea and Poseidon's cages open so if he needed to owl anyone he could do it without getting up.

About ten o'clock Severus heard the floo sound and picked up his wand from the bed beside him as he heard footsteps crossing the living room floor and they weren't Iris'.

"It's me, Sev so put your wand down," Kingsley called from the bottom of the stairs.

"Come on up," Severus called back.

Kingsley came into Severus room. "How are you doing, Sev?"

"Better. Would you mind helping me up? I suspect Lily cast a monitoring charm on me before she left so she could make sure I didn't get out of bed by myself."

"Sure, where do you need to go?"

"The loo," Severus answered.

Kingsley helped him up and into the bathroom, waited and when the bathroom door opened again, helped him back into bed.

"So tell me about how you guys caught Potter misusing his wand," Severus said.

Kingsley summoned Severus' recliner and sat down. "Well, it wasn't us, but Ned did find this old law about wand usage when he was trying to find whatever spell Potter cast on you. Alastor, as you know, has made a lot of contacts over the years. He has a good friend in MLE who he asked to keep an eye on Potter. Neither of them expected him to actually be able to catch Potter misusing his wand so imagine their shock when Moody's friend watched Potter sneaking out of his mansion every morning to cast spells on his Muggle neighbors. He watched him do it every day for a week before he took him into custody. Of course Dumbledore roared right off the Ministry, but he was too late. The Wizengamot had already declared Potter in violation of this law and revoked his wand privileges for a year."

Severus shook his head. "He always was an arrogant prick right from the first moment we met on the Hogwarts Express."

"He still has three months of dung duty at Gringotts too," Kingsley grinned. "That might take some of the arrogance out of him especially now that he can't use his wand either."

"I imagine Dumbledore will be able to rally enough of his cronies in the Wizengamot to get it back for him."

Kingsley shook his head. "Nope, Dumbledore's lost a lot of his credibility and influence in the Wizengamot by acting as Potter's defense in that blackmail trial." He chuckled. "I've heard that members of the Wizengamot duck and run the other way when they see him coming."

Severus chuckled. "Must be really disconcerting for him after years of people practically bowing to him."

"I imagine," Kingsley said getting up. "I'd better be getting back to work. I'll stop in later if Mad-Eye doesn't have anything else he wants me to do."

After Kingsley left, Severus settled back to read some of the Alchemy treatises that the Flamel's had left for him. He read until Iris interrupted him with lunch. He took the opportunity to relay what Kingsley had told him about how Potter's wand privileges had been revoked. "Moody's friend in MLE couldn't believe Potter was that arrogant."

"It seems he was able to pull the wool over a lot of people's eyes," Iris replied. "Well, they've gotten his number now and he's gotten a nasty surprised that he completely deserved for the things he was doing to his non-magical neighbors!"

Severus finished up his lunch and continued reading the treaties. He heard the floo sound downstairs, looked at the clock, and saw it was three. That would be Lily coming home after her last class.

"Sev?" Lily called. "It's me so put down your wand." She peeked into the room before coming in.

"You can come in, Lily. I'm unarmed," Severus joked.

She dropped her book bag on the floor beside the bed and sat down beside him. "How was your day? Any pain?"

"Not much," He nodded at the potion vials on the bedside table. "I only had to take a pain reliever potion once. How was your day?"

"Professor Ravencroft lecture seemed longer than normal today," Lily said with a sigh. She was taking Theoretical Brewing Part II. "Or maybe, I just didn't feel like being in class today. I am glad that there's only a few weeks of school left though."

"Me, too because then we can spend more time together."

"I can't wait until this one arrives too," Lily said patting her stomach. "I think she's going to have an aptitude for Quidditch as much as she moves around," she joked.

"But we've decided we're not going to send Jasmine to Hogwarts unless both Dumbledore and McGonagall have retired by the time she's eleven?" Severus clarified. He didn't think that was very likely.

"Yes. We can home school her and she can take her OWLs and NEWTs at the Ministry. She'll probably do better at them too being home schooled."

"I imagine there might be other families who don't really want to send their kids to Hogwarts because of all the prejudice and favoritism."

"I'm sure there are," she replied leaning back against him. "You know what I've been imagining lately?"

"What?" Severus asked putting his arm around her."

"I've been imagining you working in the Potions Research Department of St. Mungo's and me working in my own apothecary shop in Diagon Alley and Jasmine can stay with me in the shop until she's old enough to go to daycare at St. Mungo's."

"I know the Mr. Slug and Mr. Jiggers have spoken of wanting to retire in a couple of years. I'm sure they'd be willing to sell us the business," Severus replied.

Lily clapped her hands. "It would be perfect if that's what they decide to do."

"The Snape & Snape Apothecary," Severus said, painting the sign with his hand.

"At least Potter won't be stopping there since he'd be convinced you'd try to poison him."

"I meant to tell you that Kingsley stopped by and he told me how they caught Potter misusing his wand."

"How did they? I was ever so pleased to see that in the **_Prophet_** this morning."

Severus related what Kingsley had told him. "At least we know he can't attack us without his wand since he never did master non-verbal spells and he's unable to do wandless magic at all."

"I wonder when the jerk's getting married. Maybe, MacDonald can keep him in line."

"I doubt it since she always worshipped the ground he walked on."

"I was talking to Alice and she said Dumbledore warned them about some prophecy Sybil Trelawney had made about a boy being born at the end of July that's supposed to defeat You-Know-Who."

"Are they going to have a boy?"

"Yes, but Alice and Frank don't believe a word of this alleged prophecy. They think Trelawney's an old drunk that conned her way into a teaching position with this supposed prophecy."

"Another reason not to send Jasmine to Hogwarts. The quality of professors has really gone downhill."

"I wonder how Dumbledore found out that they were having a boy."

"Easy. He's got spies in every nook and cranny of the Ministry and St. Mungo's."

"Then he must know I'm pregnant too," Lily reasoned. "And he probably knows we're going to have a girl and that's why we didn't hear this prophecy or whatever."

"I doubt we would have heard about it anyway since he hates my guts especially since I turned down his offer to be his puppet."

"And I'm pregnant with your baby," Lily added, laying her head on Severus chest.

"That too," Severus agreed, putting his arm around Lily.

After a few minutes, Lily got up. "I'm going to change and see what I can find it the refrigerator for dinner. I believe mum made an extra Shepards Pie this morning." She quickly changed out of her school clothes and into maternity jeans, top and sandals.

"Okay," he replied and went back to reading the Alchemy treatise.

In about a 45 minutes Lily came back upstairs floating a tray containing two bowls of Shepards Pie, two bowls of salad, a pot of tea and two cups in front of her. She left it floating by the side of the bed, got into bed, reached out and grabbed the tray. She placed it in front of them and said, "Eat up."

Severus put the treatise he'd been reading aside and began eating. "This is really good! Your mum makes the best Shepards Pie."

Yes, she does," Lily agreed. "What were you reading?"

"Scrolls on Alchemy that Nicolas has written over the years. He's really one of the most brilliant wizards of his age or any age for that matter."

"They were really concerned when you were hurt. They owled or came to St. Mungo's to check on you every day."

"Yes, I'm very lucky to have gotten my apprenticeship with them."

"It wasn't a matter of 'luck'," Lily replied. "You're brilliant and that why they chose you."

The floo sounded just then, startling them and they heard Arthur's voice call up the stairs. "Anyone home?"

"Up here, Arthur," Lily called back. She pulled her wand

Arthur came into the room carrying a deep-dish apple pie. "Hello, Severus and Lily," he said. He motioned at the pie. "Molly made this for you. Where would you like me to put it?" He almost dropped it when Lily stuck her wand in his face and said, "When did I first tell Molly about my pregnancy?"

"When she first noticed you were showing at the end of February," Arthur answered.

"I'm sorry if I startled you," Lily apologized. "I'll take it, Arthur I'm going down to the kitchen to get Sev some more Shepard's Pie."

"No offense taken, Lily," he replied. "You can't be too careful these days."

She was back in a few minutes with another bowl of Shepard's Pie and floating three plates each with a slice of pie on them. She gave Severus his bowl and lowered the plates of apple pie.

Arthur held up his hands. "I really shouldn't." He eyed the plate, sighed and then grabbed it. "But Molly does make the best pies."

Lily poured him a cup of tea. "How's the new baby?" Molly had given birth to their sixth son in March.

"Ron is doing very well. Thank you for asking. However, I do believe the twins are a bit jealous of him. They've had a good deal of our attention up until now."

"Well, I'm sure they'll get over it once they figure out he's here to stay," Severus grinned. "So what's going on with Weasley's Warriors? Remus told me about getting Malfoy to spy in exchange for his freedom."

"Apparently, Lucius wants out of Azkaban and will do anything to achieve that end." Arthur grinned. "I'm distantly related to Lucius, would you believe? I think we're second or third cousins."

"How are you going to get him out without You-Know-Who killing him for perceived treachery?" Severus asked.

Mad-Eye and I were discussing that. He thinks if Lucius claims he was _Imperiused_ and Mad-Eye can work behind the scene to get him pardoned by the Wizengamot; he figures then Lucius can go back and brag to You-Know-Who how he pulled one over on the Wizengamot and the Aurors. He figures You-Know-Who will be quite pleased that Lucius pulled one over on the Wizengamot _and_ on Dumbledore especially."

"Sometimes, this war seems like just a spitting match between Dumbledore and You-Know-Who. You know, who has the bigger balls?" Severus remarked. "Is somebody going to be teaching Malfoy Occlumency? He won't last long as a spy otherwise."

Mad-Eye's going to have one of the instructors at the Auror Academy teach him. They'll have to do on the sly as we can't have anyone spotting Malfoy."

"How do you know Malfoy won't turn on you?" Severus asked.

"He won't if he knows it will mean going back to Azkaban before he can say boo. Lucius very much wants to be around for their baby that Narcissa is expecting very soon, especially since Abraxas died from Dragon Pox last month."

"Is the baby his?" Lily asked. "I mean he's been in Azkaban since October of '78 so how did they manage …"

"I don't know how this event occurred unless Narcissa somehow found a way to to smuggle herself into Azkaban," Arthur answered with a shrug.

"Narcissa is very intelligent and if there was a way to do it, she would have found it," Severus remarked. "But I guess I can understand why he'd remain loyal to us even if it's only for his family."

"I imagine he feels the same way about their baby as you do about Jasmine, Sev," Lily pointed out.

"I expect you're right, Lily," Severus replied with a smile.

"Lucius' side of the family has not been as prolific as our side has been," Arthur said with a smile and a blush. "It's rare for them to have more than one child."

"Well, I suppose we might be able to trust him there and Merlin knows; we need reliable information if we're going to defeat You-Know-Who."

Arthur got up. "I don't want to tire you, Severus as I know you've only been out of St. Mungo's for a couple of days so I'll be leaving."

"I don't know how long it will be before my healers will let me resume my normal routine so I don't know when I'll be able to attend a meeting."

"Hmm …" Arthur said looking around. "It might be possible to have the meeting right here if you're agreeable. Filius could easily enlarge this room to accommodate all of us."

"That would be good as I'd like to know what's going on."

"We'll do it then," Arthur replied. "I'll ask Filius to stop over and work his magic."

After Arthur had flooed home, Lily settled back down next to Severus to study for her finals. Severus put his arm around her while he continued reading one of the scrolls Nicolas and Perenelle had given him.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Millicent Bagnold was sitting at her desk and Rufus Scrimgeour sat in a chair in front of her desk. "It's an excellent idea, Rufus and I'm in favor of it, but the only problem is these elite Aurors would need special training because their sole assignment would be the complete destruction of You-Know-Who. They will need to realize that this comes first over anything else even their personal lives."

"Yes, that may be the difficult part," Rufus agreed. "But what I was thinking is that there are some excellent candidates for the assignment at the Academy. It would be best if they were chosen from there and trained specifically for this assignment. I will put Alastor Moody and Orion Black in charge of their training."

They're conversation was interrupted when the Minister's aide, Esmeralda knocked on the door and stuck her head in. "Ma'am, I'm sorry to disturb you, but Headmaster Dumbledore is here and insists on seeing you. I told him you were in a very important meeting and couldn't be disturbed, but he's still insisting."

Minister Bagnold sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. "I suppose he won't go away unless I see him. Send him in, Esmeralda."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"As if I don't know why Dumbledore is here," she muttered.

Albus strode into the office wearing a bright red robe with gold unicorns on it. "Good morning, Millicent."

"Good morning, Headmaster."

"I'm here to talk to you about getting James Potter's wand privileges …"

Bagnold held up her hand. "I did not take away Mr. Potter's wand privileges and therefore I don't have the authority to restore them. You'll need to petition your colleagues in the Wizengamot."

"Well, it was a ridiculous move. Snape attacked James in Diagon Alley without cause and James was defending himself."

Rufus interrupted him. "Albus, you know this has absolutely nothing to do with that incident. Mr. Potter was caught casting jinxes on his Muggle neighbors and endangering the Statue of Secrecy. That in itself is enough to revoke his wand privileges."

Albus huffed. "It's idiocy to take away wand privileges; we live in dangerous times. How is James supposed to defend himself if Death Eaters apparate into Godric's Hollow as they did before?"

"Well, perhaps his parents should have thought about that when they didn't teach him to respect his neighbors," Millicent replied.

"As I recall Mr. Potter senior was outraged when Muggles started moving into Godric's Hollow," Rufus commented.

"Yes, he said it would be the ruination of it," Millicent added. "Albus, I advise you to tell Mr. Potter to suck it up and be happy his wand wasn't snapped!"

Albus drew himself up, looking affronted. "Well, I can see James will not be able to depend on either of you for protection!" He turned with a swirl of his robes and stormed out of the office.

"Can you believe him?" Millicent asked Scrimgeour. "He's 96 and he throws a better tantrum than most two year-olds!"

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

"I'm sorry, James; I tried, but Minister Bagnold would not listen to me," Albus said to James that evening at Potter Manor.

"Well, how is my son supposed to protect himself," Althea Potter demanded. "Is he just supposed to be picked off by some Death Eater who holds a grudge against him?"

"No, of course not, Althea. I plan to hire two special guards who will be with James all the time during the year he doesn't have his wand."

"Good! I don't trust Snape not to attack James again and cause him even more trouble. I don't know why they keep believing that lying wretch and that little whore, Lily Evans." She turned to James. "It's a good thing you broke up with her James! If she did get in the family way; we would never be sure the child was really a Potter."

"I don't trust Snivellus either," Mary said. "He is a sneaky backstabber – his favorite thing is to attack when your back is turned. He did it plenty of times to James at Hogwarts."

"I have no doubt you're right, Mary," Dumbledore replied.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Filius came on Friday after classes were over to see about increasing the size if of Severus' bedroom so Weasley's Warriors could have a meeting there. He paced around the bedroom for a few minutes and then announced, "I don't think this will be a problem at all, Severus."

Severus heard the floo and knew Lily had arrived from college. He heard her coming up the stairs.

Lily came into the room. "Hello, Filius. How are you?"

"Fine, Lily, fine. And you?"

"I'm fine and so is Jasmine," Lily replied with a smile. "Are you going to be able to enlarge this room enough so we can meet here until Sev can be out of bed?"

"I was just telling Severus I didn't think it would be a problem at all. In fact, I can do it right now if you'd like."

"That's fine," Severus agreed.

Filius slowly moved in a circle while chanting, "_Amplifico Spatium_."

The walls of the room suddenly began moving outward until his bedroom had nearly doubled in size. "Whoa!" Severus said looking around. "I don't think we'll have a problem with room for everybody now."

Weasley's Warriors met the next night. Before the members arrived, Severus had Lily help him get dressed. If he had to stay in bed, it wasn't going to be in his nightshirt. "You might want to put a sign on the loo door to use a silencing charm because it tends to echo now since it's bigger."

"Oops!" Lily smiled. "The ladies will appreciate being warned, especially Alice and I as it seems as if we're needing to go every five minutes!"

The members began flooing over around six and most brought something to eat with them. Earlier Lily had gotten a freezer bag of Iris' beef stew out and dumped it into Severus' Crockpot. She brought it upstairs and plugged it in, setting it on high. "It should be ready by the time the meeting starts."

Everybody arrived, filled plates and bowls from the available food, and found a place to sit down. Alastor reported that he'd met with Scrimgeour and Minister Bagnold and told them of his and Arthur's plan regarding Lucius Malfoy. "She's agreed to issue a pardon for him. I told her she was probably going to get a lot of flack from the wizarding public over it, but she said she could handle it and the end justified the means in this case," Alastor explained.

"Bagnold's tough," Ned said. "Unlike some of the previous Ministers we've had."

"As soon as the pardon's official and Malfoy is released from Azkaban; he's going to start taking lessons in Occlumency." Arthur said.

"What about the other Death Eaters at Azkaban? Won't they know Malfoy's a traitor?" Sirius asked. He was sitting on a small sofa next to Reg with a bowl of Iris' beef stew balanced on his knee.

Moody shook his head. "We made sure to put all the Death Eaters on different floors of Azkaban when we captured them so they're unable to communicate with each other. We'll remove Malfoy for what looks like questioning and we'll take him out the door the guards come in and out. They'll be a boat waiting to take us across. He'll be taken immediately to a safe house and he'll stay there incommunicado until he masters Occlumency. Our best instructor at the Academy is going to be teaching him."

Gormsby?" Frank asked. "Merlin! He's a tough old nut. Malfoy better be prepared to work hard!"

"Anything Malfoy tells us after his meetings with You-Know-Who, we'll share with the Aurors," Arthur said. "As you who are in the Academy have probably already heard; Minister Bagnold is going to be forming an elite squad of Aurors whose sole job it will be to hunt capture or kill You-Know-Who."

"Yeah, and I'm planning on applying for it when I graduate," Sirius said.

"I have and so has Frank and we've been accepted," Ned replied.

"Good," Arthur nodded.

"Does anybody know what the clown patrol's been up to lately?" Lily asked. "I haven't seen anything in the **_Prophet_** except about Potter losing his wand privileges."

"What an arse!" Sirius said. "He's been doing that for a long time and I warned him more than once somebody would eventually catch him, but of course he was too arrogant to listen," Sirius said.

Kingsley who was sitting next to April shook his head. "I think Dumbledore's been keeping a low profile mainly due to what Potter's done to Sev and what he was caught doing. I think he's worn out his welcome with the Wizengamot too."

Arthur grinned. "Yes, we all heard at the Ministry that he went to see Bagnold about getting James' wand privileges restored."

Remus laughed. "I think that's why he decided James should get married because it might keep him out of trouble."

"Not likely," Benjy Fenwick added with a shake of his head.

"So when is the git getting married?" Severus asked. Not that he thought it would benefit him any.

"Minerva was discussing the wedding with me the other day. She's apparently under the impression I care," Pomona said. She had recently joined Weasley's Warriors at Filius' encouragement. "Apparently it's going to be at Hogwarts in August. I always found Potter to be a rude, spoiled brat. He didn't like Herbology so he deliberately disrupted the class in whatever way possible. I do hope he's having a grand old time shoveling dragon dung!"

"Dumbledore's more interested in that stupid prophecy he heard from Trelawney and that's why you haven't heard much from him lately. He thinks it means our baby because we're having a boy and he tried to talk us into going into hiding," Alice announced.

"I told him we're perfectly safe at Meadowview Manor because it's got centuries of wards on it and it's already under the Fidelius Charm. He actually had the nerve to ask us to make him our Secret Keeper and got mad because we wouldn't follow his 'advice'," Frank sneered

"As if I'd trust him especially with Potter around," Alice snapped. "Besides that, I'm due on July 30th not the 31st and this supposed prophecy states that the one to defeat You-Know-Who will be born as the seventh month dies."

"I'm due on the first of August, but Sev and I are having a girl. I wonder if he would have bothered to tell us if we were having a boy instead of a girl, but it doesn't matter anyway as we wouldn't have listened to him either

"I don't believe in prophecies," Moody said gruffly. "I believe people create their own paths and aren't forced along it by some idiot prophecy."

"Especially a prediction made by Sybill Trelawney," Aberforth said. "Can't tell you the amount of times I've seen her in my bar nursing a bottle of sherry. That's probably where she finds most of her 'prophecies'."

Edgar Bones got up along with Aberforth and Ned. "It our night to watch Riddle Manor so we best get going."

"You-Know-Who's lost a lot of his major players – Mulciber, Bellatrix, and the Lestrange brothers and that's probably why he's laying low for now," Ned remarked.

"But he still has Avery, Rosier, and Wilkes," Severus pointed out. "Don't underestimate them, especially Avery," he warned.

"We won't," Aberforth assured him as they left.

After everybody had left, Lily helped Severus get undressed again. "I hope things work out with Malfoy the way Arthur and Mad-Eye are hoping and he doesn't double-cross them, "Severus said.

"I doubt if he will given that he's facing going back to Azkaban and having no contact with his wife or child," Lily answered.

The next two weeks were very busy with Lily sitting her finals and signing up, with Severus' help, classes for the next year. Severus was finally allowed to get out of bed and move around for short periods of time by his healers. He ventured outside the first day with Lily's help to check on his gardens which Richard, Iris, and Arthur with Bill and Charlie had planted for him and were looking after. He sat down on a bench opposite the garden and admired it. Both gardens appeared to be flourishing. He would have plenty of fresh ingredients for brewing during the winter. In the vegetable garden, the tomatoes plants were heavy with big tomatoes as were the pepper plants with peppers while the cucumber and pumpkin vines were edging out into the backyard.

"Were going to have a ton of vegetables," Lily predicted sitting down next to Severus. "Mum's already made a lot jam from the strawberries and raspberries Arthur planted and given the excess to Molly so she could make jam too."

"We can give some to Petunia and Vernon and anybody else who wants some," Severus replied.

Lily giggled. "Mum says she now sold on dragon dung seeing how well things grow with it."

"You have an appointment with your healer tomorrow, don't you?"

"Yes. Why?"

Severus bit his bottom lip. "I'd like to go with you, but I know I can't floo or apparate yet."

"It's okay, Sev. Tuney's been going with me. I'd love it if you could go with me too, but I'd rather you were with me when Jasmine's born."

"I guess that's a fair trade-off," Severus grinned.

Lily came home from her appointment with Healer Clarke the next day very excited. "Guess what, Sev?"

"You're not going to have twins, are you?" Severus asked alarmed.

"No, of course not. I'd be much bigger even than I am now were that the case," Lily responded giving him a gentle shove. "Healer Clarke thinks Dudley will definitely be magical. Isn't that great? He and Jasmine will both grow up together magical."

"I'm happy for Petunia, but how will Vernon take it?"

"Tuney thinks he'll be alright with it, but I think she's worried about his sister, Marg. She's an outright bigot, but she's his only sibling."

"The one who was one of Tuney's bridesmaid?"

"Yes, the one who dad always says looks and sounds like a Royal Marine drill sergeant."

"Tuney will need to lay down the law to her first thing when Dudley does start showing his magical abilities."

"I saw Reg too and he asked after you. I invited him over for dinner tomorrow evening."

"That's good. I've haven't really seen much of him these last few months except at the last meeting. He and Sirius seem really close now."

"Yes, I think Potter always deliberately got between them and kept them at odds."

"That wouldn't surprise me at all."

Severus had prepared roasted chicken, creamed potatoes, two kinds of vegetable and Iris had brought an extra apple pie she had baked for dinner the next evening.

When Reg came through the floo he said. "I hope you don't mind, but I had my floo calls forwarded to your floo in case of an emergency at St. Mungo's."

"That fine," Severus replied as he and Lily brought the food in from the kitchen. "How's your training going?" They sat down at the dining room table.

"It's been busy. More and more people coming in that have been injured in Death Eater attacks and not all of them make it; some of them are kids too," Reg said sadly. "I wish we could capture or kill, preferably kill, You-Know-Who."

"I know Bagnold, Scrimgeour, and Moody are determined to do exactly that," Severus remarked.

"Yes, Siri's determined he's going to be part of that special branch of Aurors that will be hunting You-Know-Who."

"He has another year yet, doesn't he?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, but since he axed Potter; he's been near the top of his class so he figures they'll take him."

"I think he'd be good at it," Severus admitted. Despite Sirius' turn around, Severus remained leery of him.

They were having dessert when the floo suddenly sounded. Severus went to see who was calling and saw Sirius head sitting in the flames. Sirius looked as surprised to see him as he was to see Severus. "Excuse me. I was looking for Reg."

"I'll get him for you," Severus replied.

"Uh …thanks."

Reg came in and knelt in front of the fire. "What's up, Siri?"

"I thought I'd better warn you and you'd better warn Snape and Lily too."

"Warn them about what?"

"Dad heard from Alastor that Potter's got a job as a Hit Wizard. He's also getting his wand privileges back …at least while he's on the job."


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**A/N: **_This is **AU** and **NOT** canon-compliant. Don't like, don't read._

**Chapter 21**

"What! What moron would hire him for a street sweeper much less a Hit Wizard?" Reg squawked.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know, but I do know from what dad said; they've lost a lot of Hit Wizards lately and he thinks they've had to lower their standards to attract more candidates."

Reg shook his head. "I'll warn Severus and Lily if you'll warn the rest of Weasley's Warriors. No telling who he might be aiming for besides Severus."

"Will do," Sirius replied as his head disappeared from the flames. "You watch your back too."

"Will do," Reg promised. He went back into the kitchen where Severus was making more tea. Lily was sitting at the kitchen table. He sat down and took a deep breath. "Bad news; Potter was hired as a Hit Wizard and he has his wand privileges back …at least while he's on the job."

Lily paled at Regulus' news.

"Not to worry; we're safe from Potter," Severus said placing the teapot in the middle of the table and sitting down. "Our house is completely warded. Lily uses the floo to get to the college and you can't get in there unless you're either a student or have an appointment and that goes for anybody from MLE as well. I will be flooing to the Flamel's and back when my healers allow me to get back on my schedule. Both our fireplaces have strong wards on them. We don't need to go into Diagon Alley as we can owl order anything we need and shop at the Muggle grocer's here for our food. I can floo directly to Slug & Jiggers and Lily and I can floo directly to Gringotts."

"That's true," Reg said. "Except for the fact you're going to be basically prisoners."

"Severus shrugged. "Better than spending another four weeks in St. Mungo's. At least I can spend a lot of time brewing and working in my gardens."

"But what about the Apothecary we planned to have?" Lily asked. "We won't be able to have it now if we have to worry about Potter coming in and causing trouble."

"We can always ward the shop to keep anybody with harmful or evil intentions from coming in. If Potter needs an Apothecary; he'll need to go somewhere else. I don't care if he has to go clear to Wales either."

"I didn't know you were planning to buy out Slug & Jiggers," Reg said.

"The owners have told me they'd like to retire in a couple of years and I'm certain they sell us the shop when they do," Severus explained.

"That would be really cool," Reg said.

"We might be able to buy it sooner because they may be just waiting for me to get my mastery and then they'll retire. They want to leave their apothecary in good hands."

"Well, it sounds as you have everything covered, but don't get careless; watch your back at all times no matter where you are," Reg warned. "I don't want to see you in St. Mungo's until Lily's in labor."

"I make sure now that Sev doesn't forget to wear his brace," Lily added.

"Good." Reg got up and headed towards the floo. "I'll see you again soon."

They both bade him farewell as he disappeared into the green flames. Severus went back out into the kitchen and began putting away the leftover food and gathering up the dishes, cutlery, and other utensils to wash. He filled the sink with water and dishwashing liquid and let the glasses and cutlery soak for a bit in the hot water. He reheated the teapot with his wand and poured himself another cup of tea. "Do you want another cup of tea?"

Lily held up her hands, shook her head, laughing, "I'm getting up practically every hour now to go to the bathroom as it is."

Severus smiled. "It's kind of hard not to notice that." He drank his tea and then finished the washing up as Lily dried and put things items in their proper place in the cupboards and drawers. They turned off the lights and went upstairs. Severus got undressed and got into bed. He picked up the scroll he'd been reading previously and continued on where he'd left off.

Lily was standing in front of the dresser, brushing her hair. She turned to Severus and asked, "Sev, do you think we really can remain Potter-free?"

Severus laid the scroll aside on his nightstand, looked at Lily, and replied, "Yes, I do. I think as long as we stay out of Diagon Alley; we won't have to worry about him. As I said when we _do_ open our apothecary; I can ward it to keep out the bad elements."

"Well, I've got to finish college and get my mastery first," Lily teased.

"Not only that, but since the majority of the stores in Diagon Alley now are connected to the Floo Network; we can just floo from store to store if we did want to shop."

"We could go to Hogsmeade too," Lily said getting into bed. "A lot of the stores in Diagon Alley have branches there too."

"That's true," Severus agreed.

June passed quickly and on the morning of June 29, Vernon rang up Severus and Lily up to announce that Petunia had given birth to a boy who weighed nine ponds, ten ounces and was 20 inches long at 10:15 the previous evening. They were naming him Dudley Vernon Richard. Petunia was at the Royal Surrey County Hospital.

Lily gave a joyful squeal. "Vernon congratulations to Tuney and you!"

Vernon promised to extend the congratulations to Petunia and he would see them later. Lily hung up. "Isn't that great, Sev! We have a nephew."

"Merlin! He weighs almost ten pounds. He must take after Vernon," Severus commented.

Iris called immediately after Vernon had hung up and said they would be driving down to Surrey after lunch to see their new grandson and that Lily and Severus were welcome to come with them.

"Sev and I would love to come along, Mum."

"Why don't you come over right now? We'll have an early lunch and then we can leave for Surrey."

"I'll get the gift I bought for Tuney last week and then we'll walk over, Mum," Lily replied. "We'll see you in about ten minutes."

Lily went upstairs and came back downstairs with a brightly wrapped package. They left the house and locked it. Severus held Lily's arm to make sure she didn't trip as they walked the four blocks to her parents' home.

"What did you get Tuney and Dudley?"

"I got it at the baby boutique in London. It's a special mobile for his crib which is designed to strengthen Dudley's eyes. I cast a spell on it to help strengthen his ability with Charms too."

Severus smirked. "I see."

"Now, Sev," Lily teased. "Are you going to try and make me believe you won't buy Jasmine a child's potion kit first thing?"

"I'll wait until she's a least a month old," Severus deadpanned.

It was almost a four hour drive to Surrey and they arrived just before three. As they had all suspected, Dudley was quite a large baby. Unfortunately, their visit was somewhat spoiled by Vernon's obnoxious older sister, Marge's presence. The loathing she displayed towards the rest of Petunia's family made Severus want to hex her. She was especially scornful of Lily's gift.

Petunia opened the box and pulled out the mobile that was decorated with a rainbow and raindrops. It played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

"How lovely, Lily!" Petunia exclaimed as she examined it closely. "I've read these help strengthen a baby's eyes."

"It will also strengthen some of his other abilities too," Lily said using their agreed on code for Dudley's magic.

"What a sissy thing for a strapping boy like Dudders!" Marge snorted. "I bought him a set of soldiers to play with."

"That was nice of you, Marge, but I don't believe Dudley will be able to play with them until he's at least two," Petunia replied smoothly.

One of Richard and Iris' gifts was a stuffed Teddy Bear. "Every child should have one," Richard said with a smile, while fixing Marge with a look that dared her to say anything nasty.

They only stayed a short time since Petunia was tired and left for the drive back to Manchester, stopping halfway in Birmingham for dinner. They pulled up in front of Spinner's End and Severus got out first and cast a revealing spell to make sure nobody magical was around before he allowed Lily to get out of the car. Once they were safely inside, Severus said, "I was itching to hex that bitch of a sister of Vernon's."

"She is _quite_ unpleasant. You remember how nasty she was at Tuney's wedding," Lily said.

"Yes, she made it a little too obvious that she thought she should be the center of things and not Tuney."

"I'm sure she plans to spoil Dudley rotten," Lily added.

"Another month and Jasmine will be here," Severus remarked looking at the calendar.

"Also Alice and Frank will have their son too. She's due the day before me. They're going to call him Neville after Alice's grandfather."

"I'm glad they didn't take Dumbledore up on his offer of protection and are going to remain at Longview Manor," Severus said.

"I'm glad they refused his help too. I just have a bad feeling about the whole thing," Lily replied. "Why was he so bloody insistent that they go under the Fidelius Charm in a location of his choosing?"

"They would be sitting ducks, I think," Severus remarked. "From what they said at the last meeting it sounded as if Dumbledore's obsessed with that stupid prophecy."

"It sounded to me as if he didn't even care about what happens to Alice and Frank, only their son," Lily added.

Severus chuckled. "Well, we're going to have a daughter so we don't have to worry about any of this prophecy foolishness – not that I would anyway."

"Wouldn't it be funny if the prophecy was completely wrong and it turned out that a witch kicked You-Know-Who's arse?"

"Are you suggesting our daughter would be that witch who would kick You-Know-Who's arse?" Severus asked with a mock horrified expression on his face.

"And wouldn't that shock the hell out of Dumbledore? He'd probably have a heart attack at the thought of a Snape kicking arse!" Lily giggled.

They got into bed and Lily curled up next to Severus who placed his hand over her stomach, feeling only slight movement. "Jasmine's quiet tonight."

"She's been moving around a lot and kicking me all day so she's probably tired," Lily joked. "Maybe she's planning on coming early."

"Aren't first babies usually later than their due date?"

"Some are and some aren't. I remember mum saying once that Petunia was two weeks late, but I was right on time."

Severus was starting back at the Flamel's the next morning and would be helping out at Slug & Jiggers on the weekends. The Hogwarts shopping would began the last two weeks in August which was a very busy time for all the merchants in Diagon Alley. He would be on light duty at the Apothecary until his healers dismissed him from their care so he would spend his time putting together first year potion kits, inventorying ingredients and checking out the ingredients when they were delivered to the store to make sure they were the ingredients ordered and that they were fresh.

Lily had given up working at Flourish & Blotts as her pregnancy advanced, but Simon Blotts had told her she was welcome to come back after the baby was born. She already had her list of books for the next year of college and had owl-ordered them from Flourish & Blotts; she'd decided she would study ahead while she waited for Jasmine's arrival.

"You know you can fire call me at the Flamel's or the shop when you go into labor?" Severus asked.

"Of course I do, Sev and if for some reason I can't wait for you to floo home; I'll ask Reg to fire call you after I floo to St. Mungo's," Lily assured him. "I spoke with Alice yesterday and she said Dumbledore is still bothering them about moving into a safe house under the Fidelius Charm with him as Secret Keeper, but they're staying put at Meadowview Manor." Lily giggled suddenly. "In fact, Alice said Augusta ended the conversation by telling Dumbledore to stop bothering them or she'd send the strongest hex she knew through the floo!"

"I'll assume she knows some good ones too with her being a retired Auror," Severus chuckled. "In fact I believe she was the first woman ever admitted to the Auror Academy."

"More power to her," Lily answered. "It's sure taken the Wizarding World a long time to catch up as far as women are concerned.

Severus chuckled again. "You do know you're talking about a society that still uses torches and lanterns lit by candles and still writes with quills, don't you?"

"Sometimes I do wish the wizarding world would catch up with the Muggle world."

"If you've always lived in the Wizarding World, you don't miss things like electricity because you've never had it."

"That's true, but I'm kind of glad we have it here though," Lily confessed.

"Actually, me too. I can brew potions longer rather than having to stop because candle light makes it difficult to see the recipes and there's too much danger of things going wrong."

"We should tell Arthur to invite Mrs. Longbottom to join Weasley's Warriors," Lily suggested. "I think she would really be an asset."

"Undoubtedly and I'm sure Mad-Eye would approve as she was the one who trained him, I believe."

Lily giggled. "But somehow I just can't picture Mrs. Longbottom dressed in camouflage."

Severus grinned. "Well, I couldn't really picture Mad-Eye either, but he did it."

"Well I won't be doing much for quite awhile except hanging around the Burrow worrying about you and the others while you're on patrol."

Severus noxed the lights and said, "You won't really have to worry because we don't have any glory hounds in our group."

"I will _always_ worry about you, Sev."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

James sat in the Room of Requirement where the Order of Phoenix was holding their meeting. He sat twirling his wand and looking very pleased with himself. Despite all Snivellus attempts to prevent it, he'd gotten his wand privileges back. His mum and Mary were thrilled that he was not able to protect himself from the Death Eaters and he planned to get even with Snivvy as soon as possible. Nobody would even question the Slytherin's demise; all of them were either Death Eaters or Death Eaters-in-training.

Three elves popped in carrying trays of food, setting them down on a table in the back of the room. Since Molly had quit the Order and none of the other female members knew how to cook, the elves supplied the after meeting food at Albus' request.

The Order members straggled in one at a time until they were finally all present. Peter came in and immediately snagged the chair next to James.

Gideon Prewitt grinned at James as he sat down next to James. His twin, Fabian sat on Gideon's other side "Hey, we heard the good news …"

"…that you got your wand back," his twin Fabian said finishing Fabian's sentence.

"I sure did and I'm raring to go at my new job. How are Molly and Arthur?"

"Busy. You knew they had another baby ..." Fabian said.

"…their sixth boy," Gideon said. "Named him Ronald Bilius."

"That's great, but I sure wish they hadn't quit the Order over Snivellus of all things."

Elphias Doge the secretary called the meeting to order just then cutting off any further remarks and then sat with his pen poised over a piece of parchment ready to take notes. Dumbledore stood up. "I'm sad to report that the Longbottoms are still refusing to take my advice and go into hiding under the Fidelius Charm with me as their Secret Keeper." He of course didn't mention Augusta threatening to send the strongest hex she knew through the floo if he didn't stop bothering them.

"I don't understand, Albus," Minerva spoke up. "Alice and Frank were always very sensible when they were students here."

"It's easy, Minerva," James spoke up. "Alice and Frank are friends with Lily and Snivellus convinced them not to listen to Albus so he can turn their location over to You-Know-Who and secure a permanent place in You-Know-Who's inner circle."

"We never could convince Lily to dump that creepy Death Eater-in-training," Marlene added with a shake of her head. "It's so sad that she _was_ a good person and then ruined her life throwing her lot in with Snivellus."

"Well her poor choice is certainly my gain," Mary said, squeezing James' arm possessively.

"I've decided that even though they do not want my protection; I am going to give it to them anyway. Their son is destined to defeat Voldemort …" Everybody in the room shuddered at the mention of his name. "And we cannot let anything happen to him either before or after his birth."

"What do you want us to do, Albus?" Dedalus Diggle asked. "If they're refusing your help …" he finished with a shrug.

"I am going to divide us into groups and we will patrol around the edges of the wards. We will make sure nobody even tries taking down the wards. Just be very careful and make sure Augusta does not spot you or the consequences could be serious," Albus warned. "Now Mr. Dawlish, do you have anything to report?"

"Only that I think Mad-Eye, Shacklebolt, and Crockford are up to something, but I don't know what. They seem to be in Mad-Eye's office more than is normal."

"You better keep a close eye on Shacklebolt because he's good friends with Snivellus so he's probably turning dark. Anything he touches turns rotten," James declared.

Dawlish ignored James and continued with his report. "They've started reviewing applications for that elite force that will concentrate solely on getting rid of You-Know-Who. Your former friend, Sirius Black applied. Scrimgeour's been pretty impressed with him so I think he'll get a spot on that team."

"Hit Wizards are much more _elite_ than any bunch of Aurors," James sneered. "We get the dirtiest and most deadly jobs that you _Aurors_ don't even want to touch. We even have our own hospital beds at St. Mungo's. I can't wait to capture Snivellus. If he's still alive by the time I'm done with him, he'll wish he wasn't!"

"Doesn't he need to have the dark mark?" Elphias asked cautiously. "If you torture or kill him, you risk being sent to Azkaban if you can't prove he was a Death Eater."

"As we are finished with the meeting; why don't we adjourn and enjoy the delicious meal the elves have provided us with," Albus suggested.

"I second the motion," Gideon called, heading for the table with all the food.

They had a bit of a social hour in which Mary spoke of her and James' wedding which was going to be held on the Hogwarts grounds next month. She had asked her best friend Marlene to be her maid of honor. In answer to Marlene's question, she shook her head. She didn't know for sure who James would ask to be his best man since he'd dumped Sirius for returning to his evil, dark family, but probably he'd ask Peter. Mary knew Marlene thought Peter was dumpy and a chronically bad dresser, but at least he was part of the light.

Minerva shook her head and sighed sadly. "And I had such high hopes for that boy after he asked the Sorting Hat to place him in Gryffindor."

"It just proves you can't trust the Sorting Hat judgment," Marlene said. "I think it's gotten too old and can be fooled."

After the social hour was done, Albus passed out the patrolling assignments for Meadowview Manor. James noticed he would be patrolling with Minerva and Dedalus. "These are permanent and I will not change them. "James, would you please stay after the meeting?"

Once everyone had left and Dumbledore even requested Mary step outside and wait for James, he said, "James, I would rather you didn't go after Snape right now. There will be plenty of time for that later."

"But why not, Albus? He's a dirty, dark Death Eater and deserves whatever the Light can give him not matter how bad!" James complained.

"James, you are probably one of our best if not the best of our fighters and I can't afford to lose you. It would be devastating to the Order and quite a celebration in Voldemort's camp.

Despite a shiver at Voldemort's name, James puffed out his chest. "I _am_ the best fighter and the _biggest_ threat to You-Know-Who. Okay Albus, for now I'll put Snivellus on hold, but as soon as I kill You-Know-Who; he's going down!"

"That's acceptable," Albus replied.

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

Weasley's Warriors met at the Burrow for their next meeting since Arthur and Molly had baby Ron now. At Severus' suggestion, Arthur had quickly owled Augusta, asking her to join. Tonight was her first meeting.

Arthur opened the meeting by asking if anybody had anything to report. Ned raised his hand and then stood up. "There was a meeting of the Clown Patrol two nights ago. When I was at Hogwarts I made friends with one of the elves by the name of Tangey. Since Molly quit and there's nobody else who can cook so Dumbledore has the elves bring food. Tangey volunteered to help bring it in and once the other elves had left, he disillusioned himself and stayed. The meeting was the usual dragon dung …Potter bragging about his new job as a Hit Wizard and his usual slurs about you, Severus. Here's the interesting part though and …" he turned to the Longbottoms. "Dumbledore decided that even though you've told him you don't need or want his protection, he's having his clowns patrol around Meadowview Manor."

"Why that arrogant old fart!" Augusta yelled, standing up. "When I get done with him; he'll be lucky if he still has a bum left to sit on!"

"Now Mum, we can deal with those clowns now that we know where they'll be," Frank said, tugging on her arm in an attempt to get her to sit back down.

"Yes, Augusta and when we're done with _them_; we'll all go see Dumbledore and give him a _piece_ of our minds," Alice promised.

"Tangey also heard Dumbledore ask Potter after the meeting that he postpone his vendetta against Severus for now because he was their best fighter and the Order couldn't afford his _loss_." Ned grinned. "Of course Potter didn't have a problem agreeing with that assessment."

"Urgh," Lily said. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Severus shook his head. It was hard to believe anybody could really be that idiotic. "I'm grateful for the reprieve at least."

"I wouldn't stop watching my back though," Reg advised. "Just in case Potter decides he can't resist his craving to injure or kill you."

Molly shook her head. "I always thought James was very spoiled, but a good person and the same for Albus until that last meeting we attended."

Sirius shook his head. "I'm sorry I didn't notice what a mean brat Potter was at Hogwarts, but I was pretty dumb then."

Orion grinned from his seat next to Mad-Eye. "Well, at least you finally spotted it and corrected it."

Sirius flushed. "Unfortunately, not until I'd done some serious, no pun intended there, damage."

Arthur nodded his agreement with Orion. "Well, Sirius, we're happy you turned your life around and decided to join our group." He turned to Ned. "If your elf friend Tangey wouldn't mind keeping his eye on the Clown Patrol and letting us know their plans; it would be much appreciated."

"I'll talk to him, but I'm pretty sure he's willing to do it," Ned replied.

"Good." Arthur said. "Any jump we can get on the Order can only be good. Mad-Eye, Orion, anything news from Little Hangleton?"

"We see Death Eaters going in and out, but neither of us recognizes them. I think they must be recent recruits since most of the You-Know-Who's inner circle is now residing in Azkaban," Mad-Eye answered.

"We think You-Know-Who is staying there, but he keeping a low profile," Orion added. "We've seen lights going on and off all through the house."

"Good thing the rumor that the house is horrifically haunted is still in force in the village or else we'd have a lot of dead Muggles," Arthur remarked.

"Were my brothers at the meeting?" Molly asked Ned.

He nodded. "They were sitting next to Potter and Pettigrew according to Tangey."

Molly bit her lip. The twins weren't as friendly with her or Arthur since they had quit the Order although they did come to visit the children. She worried that James' hero complex would get one of them killed.

"They might come to their senses soon, Molly," Arthur said. "Dumbledore doesn't have access to the information he had before when Mad-Eye, Orion, Kingsley, and Ned belonged to the Order so they're very limited in what they can do."

"I know, but you know how stubborn they are and how hard it is for them to admit they've made a mistake."

"If it's any comfort, Molly if we end up at the same location as the Clown Patrol which we often do. I'll keep a lookout for them and make sure their safe," Severus offered.

"Would you, Severus?" Molly asked rushing to give him a hug. "I just worry all the time that Dumbledore is going to appear at the door one night telling us that Gideon or Fabian or both of them are dead, but I should be proud because they died honorably fighting Death Eaters. I think I would first set his beard on fire and then his robe after which they would probably haul me off to St. Mungo's for attacking the great leader of the Light."

"I'll help," Sirius offered. "Always liked Fab and Gid, but if anything gets them killed it will be Potter so I'll distract him while Severus keeps an eye on their bums."

After the meeting was over with, Molly brought out Ron so Alice and Lily could hold him while Severus, Arthur and Remus spoke about their spy behind a silencing spell. Only those three and the Aurors knew that Lucius Malfoy was their spy in Voldemort's camp. Arthur shook his head. "Lucius said You-Know-Who has been laying low and hasn't said anything so far about attacking the Longbottoms."

"Can he confirm that Peter is the spy in the Order's camp?" Remus asked.

"No. He said the spy comes in and leaves from a different entrance than the rest of them and reports solely to You-Know-Who." Arthur replied.

"Dumbledore probably would believe it even if you told him the spy was Pettigrew. Even former Marauders get a pass with him," Severus remarked somewhat bitterly.

"Well, none the less Lucius has informed us of several attacks that we've arrived early enough to prevent. I'm thankful for that much," Arthur said.

Severus and Lily arrived home. They were tired both having had a long day. Lily immediately gave him a hug and a passionate kiss. "That was a wonderful thing you did for Molly, Sev."

"Well, I know Potter's going to eventually get their arses blown off with him being such a glory hound and I don't want to see that happen to anybody. Myself I'd punch Dumbledore in the nose and send him into a wall."

Lily laughed. "Now that I would enjoy seeing!"

**_Thanks for reading. Please leave a review._  
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	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer:** All previous disclaimers apply.

**Chapter 22**

The month of July seemed to be flying by and while Lily reported some cramps she was experiencing and an ongoing backache, but nothing was continual enough to be mistaken for labor pains.

Frank floo-called them on the July 30th to announce that Alice had given birth to Neville Francis at 1:10 that morning and he weighed 9 lbs. and 3oz. and was 20 inches long and that Alice was fine. Severus and Lily offered him and Alice there congratulations.

Severus kept himself occupied while waiting for Jasmine's arrival by inventing a new hex he planned to use the next time he was on patrol. He called it the '_Rope Your Feet'_ hex. At the incantation of _Funis Vester Bipes_, a rope would appear around the target's ankles tightening and pulling their legs out from under them so that they crashed to the ground on their face.

Jasmine Iris Eileen Snape was born at 12:01 am on August 1st, 1980. Severus and Lily were thrilled with their little daughter who weighed 7 lbs. and 7 oz., had her mother's fiery red hair, and her father's dark eyes.

"She has your nose thankfully," Severus said as he held her. He still couldn't quite believe this beautiful baby girl was his daughter …the reality of his and Lily's love. He handed her somewhat reluctantly back to Lily. "I feel sorry for Alice and Frank though. Neville gets stuck with the designation as savior of the wizarding world. Dumbledore will never let them be now."

"I know. Poor Neville has to grow up with that weight on his shoulders."

"I think that stupid prophecy came out of the bottom of a bottle of sherry, but Dumbledore will have everybody convinced that it's the truth."

"Well, he does have his grandmother in his corner," Lily replied and then laughed. "Augusta will be firing hexes through the floo at Dumbledore on a regular basis if he thinks he's going to make Neville into his private puppet."

Severus chuckled. "I hope she hits him every time too!" A picture of Dumbledore dancing around, yowling, and holding his hands over his bum flitted through his mind as he said it.

Richard and Iris came to see their new granddaughter the next day. "She's a beauty," Richard said, holding her. "She's probably going to have a fiery temper along with the hair."

"Now Richard, you know that's an old wives tale," Iris said reprovingly. She had brought a gift from Petunia which turned out to be a ruffled dress in pale green. "Petunia said once you are recovered you and she should meet for lunch."

"I'll ring her when I can do it," Lily replied.

Two days after they brought Jasmine home, Severus was called to an emergency meeting. Arthur and Alastor had gotten word from Lucius that Voldemort was going to attack and completely destroy a small Muggle village and everyone who lived there that was near the border of Scotland to make his displeasure at being stopped whenever he tried to resume his 'cleansing campaign' to rid magical Britain of Muggles, Muggleborns, and Squibs obvious.

"Be careful Sev," Lily said as she kissed him goodbye, holding Jasmine in her arms. "This little girl needs her daddy."

"I promise I won't take any chances," Severus said.

Weasley's Warriors arrived early and managed to get everyone out by being costumed as Bobbies, prison authorities, or guards, claiming that two desperate and dangerous criminal had escaped from Acklington Prison and had been seen in the area.

Thirty Death Eaters apparated in pairs during the next twenty minutes. They looked around trying to spot any Muggles and were suddenly hit by a barrage of hexes. Severus found out his _Rope Your Feet_ Hex worked really well. Once the Death Eater was facedown; he cast an _Incarcerous_ on him.

Brooms were spotted in the sky and a loud triumphant whoop announced the imminent arrival of the Order.

"What in Merlin's name is happening?" One of the Death Eater's called out to another one. Severus recognized the voice as belonging to Goyle. "We were just supposed to kill all the Muggles, burn everything, cast the dark mark and leave!"

"I'm getting out of here! I'm not risking being caught and sent to Azkaban!" Another one yelled back. It was Rosier.

"Our Lord won't like it, but I agree," Crabbe answered. He wasn't looking forward to the Cruciatus Curses that would most likely follow, but it was still better than Azkaban.

James had landed his broom along side of Gideon's and Fabian's and they kept low to the ground. "There are three of them and it looks like they're about to disapparate. We can take them," he urged them.

They jumped up, confronted Crabbe, Goyle, and Rosier and began dueling with them. Pretty soon two more Death Eaters rushed over to help and James, Fabian, and Gideon were now dueling five Death Eaters instead of three.

Severus spotted them and sighed. Idiots who didn't have the sense of chickens! He disillusioned himself, crept over and stunned one Death Eater from behind. He heard James chortle, "Ha! Look! I got one!"

Severus crawled closer and stunned another one from behind. He heard three cracks and knew they'd lost their chance at capturing Crabbe, Goyle, and Rosier, but at least Gideon and Fabian were safe and Molly would not have Dumbledore coming to her door with bad news.

Arthur used hand signals to let everyone know to withdraw. The Death Eaters had disapparated and the ones who were stunned and bound would be left for the Clown Patrol to deal with. They all met and walked in silence until they were far enough from the village that their disapparition would not be heard.

Severus arrived home and found Lily asleep in the rocking chair next to Jasmine's crib. He looked at his tiny daughter who was sound asleep. She was just so beautiful that his heart practically burst every time he looked at her. He kissed Lily, waking her up. "Oh!" Lily said. "I meant to stay awake, but I must have drifted off after feeding Jasmine an hour ago. What time is it?"

"A little bit after midnight," he replied. "And I didn't expect you to wait up. After all you just had a baby and are still recovering."

Lily got up out of the rocker and after a final check of Jasmine, followed Severus into the bedroom. "How did the rescue operation go?"

"Fine. We got all the people evacuated from the village and were able to capture three Death Eaters, but none of the ones closest to You-Know-Who thanks to the Clown Patrol."

"How do they know when we're going out on a mission?"

"I'm wondering that too," Severus admitted. "I'm wondering if Dumbledore doesn't have some kind of listening spells in the homes of some of the people that left the Order. I'm pretty sure there's nothing here as Dumbledore has never been here and the wards would prevent him from coming in when we weren't here."

"Maybe, you should talk to Arthur about having the Burrow and the other places we use swept for listening spells by Mad-Eye," Lily said as she pulled back the covers and got into bed.

"It's entirely possible that he did do something like that as their wards allowed him to come through so he could have done it when nobody was home."

"Yes and that's another thing they should do is adjust their wards to keep Dumbledore out."

They were woken two hours later by Jasmine crying. "I'll get her," Severus said, throwing back the covers and getting out of bed. He pulled his robe on and found his slippers.

"There are fresh bottles in the refrigerator and all you have to do is warm one," Lily said sleepily.

"Okay," Severus replied. He went into the nursery and turned on the small lamp by the changing table. He picked her up and found in addition to being hungry, she was wet so her quickly changed her nappy and took her down to the kitchen with him. He got a bottle out of the refrigerator and warmed it with his wand and tested it on his wrist to make sure it was exactly the right temperature. He took Jasmine back upstairs and sat down in the rocker watching while she drank the bottle. After she finished, he put her over his shoulder, rubbing her back in an up and down motion and then patting it gently until he was rewarded with a loud burp. "Well, you must feel a lot better now," he said as he rocked her until she fell back to sleep. He laid her down in her crib, covered her, and shut off the light. He returned to the bedroom and got into bed, chuckling slightly when he noticed that Lily had stolen the covers. He gently tugged them back over to his side and was able to fall quickly back asleep.

She woke up again two hours later, but Lily got up. In the morning they were both tired. Severus made breakfast and Lily went to get the **_Dailey Prophet_** from the owl when it tapped on the window. She opened it to find a picture of the Clown Patrol claiming they had captured three Death Eaters the previous night and saved an entire village from You-Know-Who. "Those idiots!" Lily ranted. "Weasley's Warriors saved that village and captured them."

"Yes, but if they want to take the credit that's fine with me," Severus said after glancing at the front page. "What's unfortunate is that some of the more important ones got away thanks to those dunderheads."

"Why do they always put their faces on the front page of the paper? Don't they know they're just painting targets on themselves?"

"They're arrogant, glory seeking idiots that's why," Severus replied.

"I'm happy though for Molly's sake that Gideon and Fabian are safe."

"Speaking of Molly; she would probably enjoy seeing Jasmine. We should bring her over to the Burrow." Molly hadn't been able to visit at the hospital because of Ron being sick, but Arthur had.

"Yes and you can tell Arthur about our suspicions regarding a listening spell being cast by Dumbledore."

"If he does know what we're doing I'm surprised he hasn't exposed us in the **_Prophet_**," Severus remarked.

Lily shrugged as Severus set breakfast on the table. "Why would he? After all, we're doing all the work and the Clown Patrol is taking all the credit."

Severus sat down. "True. I hadn't thought about it that way."

Since it was Saturday and the Weasley's were probably sleeping in; Severus waited until after lunch to floo them. Molly's head appeared in the flames. "Severus, how are you and Lily?"

"We're fine, but tired, Molly. Thank you for asking."

"Well, that comes with being new parents. How is Jasmine? Arthur said she's a little doll."

"Great, except for the fact that she wakes up every two hours."

"Wait until she starts sleeping through the night," Molly laughed. "You'll be waking up every hour to make sure she's still breathing because she's so quiet. Arthur and I about drove ourselves crazy doing that with Bill."

Severus chuckled. "I don't doubt Lily and I will be doing the same. The reason I flooed you is that we want to bring Jasmine over so you can see her and I need to talk to Arthur also."

"Come on through," Molly said.

Lily covered Jasmine with a blanket to prevent any ash from getting in mouth or nose and Severus took her arm. When they stepped out of the floo at the Burrow, both Arthur and Molly were waiting.

"Let me see her," Molly said, holding out her arms.

Lily carefully laid Jasmine in Molly's arms. "Oh! Arthur you're so right; she is just a little doll!"

Severus took Arthur's arm and they went into the living room and sat down, leaving Molly and Lily in the kitchen. Severus cast his _Muffliato Spell_ around them and then asked, "Are your wards attuned to let Dumbledore through?"

Arthur thought for a moment and then nodded. "Now that you mention it, they are. It's because when Molly and I belonged to the Order; we sometimes held meeting here and I never thought to change them after we quit the Order."

"Do you ever wonder how the Clown Patrol always turns up on our missions with information we got from Lucius?"

"You don't think we have somebody that's reporting to Dumbledore do you?" Arthur asked aghast.

Severus shook his head. "No, but I think there might be a listening spell of some sort cast here. Since your wards will let Dumbledore through, he may have come at a time when you were gone and cast it then."

"If that's true then I best have Alastor come out and check. If he does find a spell; I'll have him remove it. I'll also have him redo the wards so when Albus realizes he can no longer spy on us, he'll try to recast it."

"He's probably got them on all the former Order members especially Remus, Filius, and Pomona who live at Hogwarts. I'd say the only ones who definitely don't are my house, Meadowview Manor, Alastor's home, Grimmauld Place, and the Hog's Head because Aberforth would be wise to any of his brother's tricks and probably checks regularly."

Arthur excused himself. He was going to floo to the Auror Headquarters in the Ministry to talk to Mad-Eye in person.

Molly was still fussing over Jasmine in the kitchen with Lily when he walked out there. She handed the baby to Severus regretfully. "I dearly love all my boys, but I would so love to have a girl too." She sighed. "Unfortunately, there hasn't been a female born on the Weasley side since Arthur's Aunt Muriel and she's in her sixties and there's been none since me on the Prewitt side so the chances of my ever having a girl are slim to none I suspect." She looked up at Severus. "There aren't any potions …"

Severus shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of …sorry. I don't think even the Muggles have the ability to select the sex of the baby yet."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to hope then," Molly answered. "But Jasmine is certainly pretty."

"Thanks, Molly," Lily said with a smile. They flooed home because they had Jasmine on a schedule and didn't want to disrupt it. One they got home, Lily changed her, fed her, and put her into her carrier on the table which rocked gently back and forth. Severus was starting dinner and Lily got the salad ingredients out of the refrigerator. The kitchen was in the back of the house and the light couldn't be easily seen from the front. Severus and Lily spent a lot of time in the kitchen studying or reading with hot pots of tea to drink.

Severus had peeled potatoes and cut them into chunks which were cooking while he was making the main dish of Pork Tenderloin Marsala. Lily made the salad and placed the bowl on the table then drained the potatoes, added cream, butter, salt, and pepper and beat them with a hand mixer until they were creamy. She put them in a bowl and set it on the table. Severus brought the pork over to the table on a platter and set it down. "It looks as if everything's ready."

They filled their plates and started to eat. "This is delicious Sev," Lily said taking a bite.

"Thanks. It's a recipe I found in one of my mother's old cook books up in the attic. She was actually a good cook and taught me when there was actually food in the house and Tobias was gone."

"Where did she learn to cook? I mean she came from a wealthy family with house elves to do everything."

"Mum said that my grandma Snape taught her how to cook. I don't remember her much. She died when I was five or six. I do remember she had an Irish brogue when she spoke though and she was always laughing."

They were just finishing up dessert, bowls of Mocha Fudge Ripple ice cream from Fortescue's when Jasmine let out a wail. Severus got up and picked her up out of the carrier and sat down again. She immediately stopped crying. "She isn't wet and she shouldn't be hungry already," he said sounding puzzled.

"I think she just wanted to be held Sev," Lily replied with a smile.

The floo sounded just then and Lily went to see who was calling. She came back into the kitchen with Arthur following her. He sat down by Severus and accepted a cup of tea from Lily. "Mad-Eye and Kingsley just got done casting the new wards around the Burrow and he did find a Listening Spell had been cast, but unfortunately the magical signature wasn't Albus'. Moody figures he used a different wand to do it."

"If you recall student wands that are confiscated as punishment are kept in McGonagall's office so he could have used one of them easily."

"That arrogant, old fool!" Lily snapped. "No wonder he and Potter are in each other's back pockets. They're exactly alike!"

"He not going to be doing that anymore," Arthur stated. "Mad-Eye's going to meet with Remus, Pomona, and Filius on the sly and tell them to check their quarters. Filius should be able to check for any Listening Spells and remove them if there are. Kingsley was going to let Ned know and I'm meeting Edgar and Benjy for lunch tomorrow and will inform them."

"If anybody needs their wards changed, I'm available," Severus offered.

"I'd like to be in Dumbledore's office to see his face when he figures out that his Listening Spells are no longer working," Lily said with a smirk.

"Isn't it illegal to sneak into somebody's house and cast spells without their permission? He should be arrested." Severus said.

"We _know_ it was him, but we don't have the proof," Arthur replied as he got up. "I'd better get back home. Ron's first tooth is coming in and he's a bit crabby. I will floo you as soon as we get any information from Lucius."

"Thanks for letting us know what's going on, Arthur."

"Thank you for letting _me_ know your suspicions. I used to think Albus was an honorable man, but now I realize he'll do anything for fame." He shook his head and flooed back to the Burrow.

Severus looked down at Jasmine who had fallen back to sleep. "I guess that's another thing we have to look forward to, teething."

"According to the book I read, some babies breeze through it without a problem," Lily said.

"Well, we'd better brew plenty of baby teething potions just in case."

The next week saw Severus recasting the wards around Edgar's and Benjy's homes while Moody checked and removed the Listening Spells he found. "I'm not always talking about constant vigilance just to hear myself talk." He shook his head. "I've checked everybody's homes and removed any spells I found that weren't cast by the inhabitants already. Everything should be secure now."

"The wards are secure here so Dumbledore won't be able to recast any spells."

"Constant vigilance, son. Dumbledore is sneaky. With the amount of cunning and ambition he has; I can't for the life of me figure out why he wasn't sorted into Slytherin."

"Maybe there would never have been You-Know-Who if he had been."

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

While James glowed at being on the front page of the **_Prophet_**, he was ticked that Snivellus had seemingly disappeared. He'd heard that Lily had given birth to a baby girl on August 1st. He grinned, figuring that was all Snivellus could manage. His and Mary's first baby would definitely be a boy.

The meetings weren't much fun these day as all Albus did was complain about the Longbottoms keeping him away from Neville when they should be grateful that he wanted to mentor and train him for his eventual defeat of You-Know-Who. James couldn't see that kid defeating a fly much less the most powerful dark wizard ever!

His marriage to Mary would take place on Saturday at Hogwarts. Fabian was going to be his best man while Marlene was going to be Mary's Matron of Honor. It was going to be a big celebration held on the grounds of Hogwarts. Minerva was in charge of decorating and she was having a hard time getting any flowers from Pomona. She said that Pomona had informed her rather snippily that if she wanted flowers; she could use the _Orchideous Spell_.

Fabian and Gideon were going to be hosting his bachelor party on Friday night. He wished Padfoot and Moony were still his best friends, but he had invited both of them to the party and to his wedding in hopes of getting the Marauders back together, but they had both sent back polite but cool refusals. None the less he would miss them. Well, there was still Peter he supposed, but Sirius had been like his brother until he fell back under the influence of his dark family.

Then there was that vigilante group that they were fighting in addition to You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters. By now the Inner Council members knew that they were the rejects who left the Order of the Phoenix in a huff because of jealousy and Albus' faith in him. They knew they were led by Arthur Weasley, but did not have a clear picture of who the members were, but Albus suspected they were all the former members of the Order. He was certain Filius and Remus were members and his brother Aberforth.

Snivellus and was probably a member. Arthur didn't have any more brains than to offer Slytherins a place in his organization, but he would find out when Snivellus stabbed him in the back!

**Page ~*~*~*~*~* Break**

The week seemed to pass fast to Severus. Between working on a potion to repair the damage after the Cruciatus Curse for his mastery and working with the Flamel's; he paid little attention to anyone but Lily and Jasmine. The Flamel's welcomed them to their home on Saturday evening for dinner; they were anxious to see Jasmine and thought she was adorable. Perenelle hardly wanted to let go of her to serve dinner, rocking her and singing her French lullabies while Nicolas looked on smiling.

"I think Jasmine now has honorary grandparents in Nicolas and Perenelle," Lily remarked. "They both were charmed by her."

Severus grinned. "Considering their ages; they would be more like too many greats to list grandparents."

"But I suspect you're like a son to them, Sev so Jasmine would be like their granddaughter."

"I admire them greatly. They've done so many fantastic things and continue to do so."

The next morning's **_Prophet_** had a front page account of the Potter Wedding including detailed descriptions of the guests and what the bride and groom wore. Severus tossed the paper aside. "I should have read this before I ate."

Lily got up to clear the table. "I know he invited Remus and Sirius, but they both sent refusals. I think he actually thinks they don't know how much he led them astray."

"His mother was probably disappointed that the Minister sent her regrets also," Severus snickered. "Maybe the Queen would have come if they had sent her an invitation."

"Queen Elizabeth wouldn't have been as impressive as Minister Bagnold," Lily remarked. "Besides she has much more sense than that."

"Do you think the Queen knows about the wizarding world?"

"From what dad's said; she knows the same things as the Prime Minister knows and he does know about us so I'd say yes."

"I don't think any of the royals have been magical, but of course we would have never heard about it in History of Magic."

"I don't know why Dumbledore doesn't get somebody competent to teach that than Binns," Lily complained. "It's ridiculous!"

"He's too caught up with this contest of 'whose got the bigger balls,' him or You-Know-Who and could probably care less with what is or isn't being taught at Hogwarts and now he's obsessed with poor Neville too."

"I hope Alice, Frank, and Augusta are able to keep Dumbledore's mitts off of Neville."

"I wonder if they're going to even send him to Hogwarts or home school him," Severus said. "I can't see them sending him to a place where Dumbledore will have unlimited access to him."

"It's ridiculous that Dumbledore and his followers expect a small boy to do what should be done by _adult_ wizards and witches," Lily scoffed.

"Neville's the perfect excuse Dumbledore was looking for not doing anything. Who knows if that stupid prophecy is even true? For all anybody knows he could have made the entire thing up."

A sudden loud wail from upstairs interrupted their conversation. "I'll get her," Severus said getting up. He chuckled. "She certainly has a good pair of lungs."

Lily got one of the already prepared bottles of formula out of the refrigerator and got it warmed.

Severus came into the kitchen carrying Jasmine. He had her dressed in a light blue onesie decorated with witch's hats. Her carrier was sitting on the kitchen table from the previous night and after she finished with her bottle; Lily placed her in it and covered her with a light blanket. She reheated the tea using her wand, poured a cup for Severus and herself and picked up the **_Prophet_**. "I don't know what this crap is doing on the front page of the paper anyway."

Severus shrugged. "Maybe they think there has been too much bad news with all the attacks by You-Know-Who and want to give people happy news or what they think is happy news at any rate."

"If the **_Prophet_** only knew what a murdering son-of-a-bitch they were promoting," Lily snapped.

"They probably wouldn't care. As long as Potter is Dumbledore's golden boy, they'll worship the ground he walks on no matter what."

"Well, I hope they find out either him or MacDonald is infertile," Lily replied smirking. "But it would be better if it were Potter."

"Speaking of weddings," Severus said. "I did promise your dad that I will make an 'honest' woman out of you," he teased

"I just want a small wedding with family and friends."

"Do you want to be bonded?"

"Yes. Very much, Sev."

"I believe my grandfather's Barrister; Reginald Winchester is certified by the Ministry to cast marriage bonds."

"Could you check with him?"

"I will. What date would you like our wedding to be?"

Lily went over and looked at the calendar that was hanging on a cupboard by the sink. After a few minutes of silence; she asked, "How about Saturday, October 4th? That will give me a month to get all the way back in shape." She had really hadn't gained that much weight with Jasmine, but she still wanted to tighten her abdominal muscles more.

"That sounds good. Do we want to send out invitations?"

"We probably should. We can ask mum at dinner tonight."

Severus and Lily had been invited to her parents' for Sunday dinner. Petunia, Vernon, and Dudley were also coming. They were planning to stay overnight and drive back in the morning.

Severus picked up Jasmine's bag containing extra diapers, bottles and an extra outfit and put the strap over his shoulder while Lily threw a light blanket over Jasmine, flooed over to the house and stepped out of the fireplace. Lily handed Jasmine to her grandfather to hold and looked around. "Tuney and Vernon aren't here yet?"

Richard shook his head. "No. Petunia called to warn us that they'd gotten a later start than they had originally planned." He tickled Jasmine's stomach, making her coo.

"I'll go see if mum needs any help in the kitchen," Lily said to Severus.

He nodded and sat down on the couch opposite Richard's recliner. "I think she's gained weight too since I last saw her."

"She's going for her first visit to her pediatric healer in a few weeks so we'll see," Severus replied.

"I saw in the paper where Potter had gotten married. Maybe his wife will be able to exert some influence over him."

"I doubt it," Severus remarked. "She was always making cow eyes at him at school and generally worshipped the ground he walked on."

Richard handed Jasmine over to her father again. "Well, that would fit with my impression of Dumbledore; he wouldn't want Potter marrying anyone he couldn't control."

"You're most likely correct about that," Severus said.

They heard a car pull into the driveway and then voices. Petunia came into the house carrying Dudley while Vernon carried everything else. "Hello everyone," Petunia called.

"Have a seat Petunia, Vernon and let me see my grandson," Richard said, holding out his arms. Petunia placed Dudley in Richard's arms and then sat down on the couch next to Severus while Vernon set Dudley's things on the floor and sat down in the other recliner.

Iris and Lily came in from the kitchen. Iris carried a tray of canapés that she set down on the coffee table and then gave Petunia a kiss while Lily went to stand by her father's recliner to have a look at Dudley. "I think he's grown since I last saw him Tuney," Lily said. "How much does he weigh?"

"Our pediatrician was very pleased with Dudders progress when I took him in for his first checkup. He weighs 12 lbs. and 2 ounces now."

"He has a good appetite too," Vernon added chuckling.

Severus took one of the canapés and popped it into his mouth. "Mmm …these are delicious, Iris."

"Thank you, Sev. They're called Chicken Puff Pastry Crowns."

Everybody tried one and agreed they were delicious. "Can I have the recipe, Mum?" Petunia requested. "These will be good to have when we start entertaining Vernon's clients."

"Remind me before you leave tomorrow Petunia," Iris said getting up. "I'm going to get dinner on the table."

"Do you need help, Mum?" Lily asked.

"You stay, Lily. I'll help mum since I've been in the car since ten o'clock this morning and need to stretch," Petunia said. "Vernon, please check Dudders. He may need to be changed."

She went into the kitchen and Vernon lifted Dudley out of Richard's arms. "He's wet alright. I'll just take him upstairs and change him."

Over dinner Iris mentioned the Potter wedding, "I'm so glad you dumped him, Lily. I don't know how his parents brought him up, but he never once offered to help me set or clear the table and he never sent me one thank you note for all the time he had dinner here."

"That's because the git probably thought you had a house elf. He must have slept through Muggle Studies or else he should have known that," Severus replied.

"Well, there were times when I wished I was magical just so I could hex that smirk off his face," Richard said.

"I always wondered why Dumbledore doesn't hire a non-magical person to teach that class. There's a lot of non-magical people who know about us that he could have tapped or even a Squib; a lot of them live in the Muggle world," Lily said. "Muggle Studies currently is like the blind leading the blind."

Severus nodded. "The textbook is way out-of-date. It's like looking at a history book from the 20's, 30's, and 40's. The wizarding world doesn't even know about the Beatles, the Rolling Stones or that Muggles have been to the moon."

"Why doesn't this …Dumbledore want to teach up to date information?" Vernon asked in confusion. "How does he expect his students to get along in our world if all their information isn't even current?"

"He doesn't care about anything except fighting You-Know-Who and that stupid prophecy," Severus answered.

"What prophecy is this?" Iris asked.

"According to what my friend Alice told me and she and her husband did hear the actual prophecy; Sybill Trelawney who's the great-granddaughter of Cassandra Trelawney who actually was a true Seer, made this prediction that a boy born at the end of July would be the one to defeat You-Know-Who," Lily explained.

"She's usually seen sitting in the Hog's Head nursing a bottle of sherry and charging clients a Sickle to have their fortunes told," Severus said scornfully. "I rather doubt she inherited any of her great-grandmother's ability."

"Alice and Frank's son, Neville, has been designated by Dumbledore to be the defeater of Voldemort even though he was born on the 30th even though the prophecy clearly states that a boy 'born as the seventh month dies' would be the defeater of You-Know-Who," Lily said.

"So in essence, the prophecy never came true," Severus added.

"Thank goodness Jasmine was a girl and born a minute after midnight," Iris said.

At the mention of Jasmine, Lily glanced into the living room where both Jasmine and Dudley remained asleep in their carriers.

"Dumbledore would never designate any son of mine as a savior of the wizarding world anyway," Severus snorted. "Him and those other moronic members of the Clown Patrol think I'm You-Know-Who's right hand man."

"Clown Patrol?" Petunia asked.

"The defense group Dumbledore founded to fight against You-Know-Who," Lily explained. "Their actual name is the Order of the Phoenix, but they behave as a bunch of glory-seeking clowns."

Severus sneered. "It should have been called the Order of the Gryffindors. It had exactly three members who weren't Gryffindors …two Hufflepuffs and one Ravenclaw."

"I was once a member, but he had Potter on what he called the Inner Council and he was leaking confidential information to Black that could have endangered the rest of us and our families. We voted to throw him off the Inner Council, but Dumbledore refused to do it in spite of most of us voting against Potter so many of us quit," Lily said.

"Either of them ever shows up here again; I'll fan their arses with my service revolver!" Richard swore.

"Invite me over before you do it," Severus said with a grin.

"And me," Vernon said and added, "It would be worth the drive."

"I'll come with you," Petunia said. "And after dad gets done with Dumbledore's and Potter's arses; I'll kick them in the family jewels in my high heels."

All the males at the table couldn't help but wince at that thought. Lily giggled at their expressions then said, "That's my job, Tuney."

"We can both do it then," Petunia agreed. "You can kick Potter and I'll kick Dumbledore."

Vernon shook his head. "From what I've heard of this Dumbledore person; I can't believe that man is headmaster of a school. If my old headmaster at Smeltings had behaved like that, the parents would have gone to the board and had him fired."

Severus sighed. "The Board of Governors has tried, but there are 12 members and the vote always ends up in a tie with six in favor of termination and six against."

After they had eaten the caramel apple pie Iris had made for dessert, Severus and Lily flooed home. They fed Jasmine, gave her a bath and put her to bed. Lily covered her with a light blanket and cast the monitoring charm over her. They went back downstairs and into the kitchen where Severus made tea and set out the Chicken Puff Pastry Crowns that Iris had sent home with them.

Lily read one of her textbooks because college would be starting again in two weeks while Severus read one of the alchemy scrolls Nicolas had written. He was glad he'd taken Arithmancy and Ancient Runes has his electives at Hogwarts as it helped a lot in understanding what he wrote.

The floo sounded and they both went into the living room to see who it was. Arthur's head was sitting in the fire. "I've just gotten some some terrible news and I've called an emergency meeting."

**_Thanks for reading. Please leave a review._  
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	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: **All previous disclaimers apply.

**A/N:** _Thanks to reviewer asiacheetah for catching a gaping hole in my plot._

**Chapter 23**

Severus knew that Arthur must have gotten important information from Lucius, but he would never speak his name because he wasn't completely sure about the security of the Floo Network. "We'll be there as soon as we take care of Jasmine," Severus replied.

"I'll see you in a bit then," Arthur said and ended the call.

Severus got up so Lily could floo call her parents to ask them if they could stay with Jasmine while they went to the Burrow.

Lily came into the kitchen and said, "Mum said they'd be over in a few minutes.

The floo sounded and Iris and Richards stepped out and into the living room. "Jasmine's asleep, but she'll probably wake up in a few hours because she'll be either hungry or wet," Lily said.

"We probably won't be gone more than an hour I would think," Severus added.

"We'll be fine," Iris assured them.

Severus and Lily flooed to the Burrow and stepped out into the kitchen where several members of Weasley's Warriors were already present with drinks in hand.

Once everyone was assembled Arthur said, "I just want to assure everyone that the listening spell cast by Albus has been removed and action taken so he cannot cast or recast any spells here."

"What's your news?" Edgar asked. "What was so urgent?"

"I have reliable information that You-Know-Who is planning to attack the Hogwarts Express on September first and he swears to kill every Muggleborn student on it."

"I take it you don't want to tell either Albus or Minerva because they'll demand to know who our source of information is," Remus said.

Only, Remus, Arthur, Severus, and Lily knew the true identity of the informant.

Arthur shook his head. "I'd have to give them complete details and there's too much chance of our informant's name getting back to You-Know-Who and it would mean their death if it did."

"What about telling the parents and letting them decide how to safely get their children to school another way," Lily said.

"Don't worry about the students," Augusta said. "I know the majority of the school governors well and if I tell them what You-Know-Who has planned, they won't demand to know how I know, they'll accept what I say and arrange another way to get them to school."

"I figure there's going to be Death Eaters watching King's Cross and Platform 9¾ and if they don't see any kids getting on the train they'll call it off and we'll lose our best chance to capture You-Know-Who," Moody said. "What I was thinking is the Aurors can get there before the Death Eaters and arrest all of them and then the rest of us can get on the train so wherever You-Know-who attacks, he's going to be in for an unwelcome surprise."

"Wouldn't you have to give your chief our source of information anyway?" Benjy asked.

"No, Scrimgeour knows where we're getting our information."

Alright then," Arthur said. "Augusta, you speak to the governors and Mad-Eye, you speak to Rufus. Once we get everything coordinated; I'll call another meeting."

**~*~* Page Break ~*~***

Dumbledore stood looking at the small silver instrument on the table beside his desk in confusion. He had been aware that Remus, Filius, and Pomona had snuck out, probably for a meeting most likely at the Burrow and he cast a spell on the device so he could hear what information they had, but he was getting nothing. Not a sound.

"What's wrong?" James asked. "I'm not hearing anything."

"I suspect we've been found out and they've removed the listening spell I put in place."

"You still have access to all their places with the exception of Moody's house, the Longbottom's and Grimmauld Place, don't you?"

"I suspect if they found out about the listening spell at the Burrow; they most likely have changed their wards so I will not be able to recast the spell. Probably it is the same for the rest of the members' homes also."

"How are we going to find what they're up to then? I mean the wizarding public expects _us_ to protect them from the Death Eaters and we can't do it if we don't know what information Arthur has," James complained.

"Arthur's always been very tight-lipped about who that informant is. If you've noticed in the past; he's never mentioned them by name at the meetings."

"Yeah, I did notice that," James replied slumping down into one of the squashy armchairs in front of the Albus' desk. "And their information is much better than ours too. Damn, Albus! We've got to find some way to discover what's going on at those meetings!"

"Let me think about it for a few days and do some research. Perhaps I can find an old spell that will allow me some way to reestablish the connection we had previously."

"Think fast, Albus because when they win, the Order of the Phoenix loses!"

**~*~* Page Break ~*~***

Severus and Lily spent a few minutes visiting with Frank and Alice and admiring Neville. They said goodbye to the other members of Weasley's Warriors and flooed home. They stepped out of the fireplace. Richards was watching United Manchester's match on the television while Rose was knitting what looked like an afghan of some sort.

"How was Jasmine?" Lily asked.

"She was an angel. She had her bottle and went right to sleep without a fuss," Iris replied.

"She usually does initially," Severus said. "It's when she wakes up again that she wants to be held and rocked."

"What are you knitting?" Lily asked.

"I decided I'm going to make my grandchildren each an afghan. This will be Dudley's when it's finished."

Richard and Iris went back home when the football game was over. "I'm glad they didn't ask about the meeting," Lily said. "I'm not sure I want them to know how dangerous this next mission will be."

"If You-Know-Who can be captured though, think how much better our lives will be."

"We have definite information that the Hogwarts Express will be attacked, but not that he'll be there himself."

"I think he will. I don't think he can resist seeing the Muggleborns tortured and killed and even torturing and killing some of them himself."

"Somebody should invent some kind of anti-apparition spell so if he _is_ there, he can't get away and the Aurors could capture him."

"Great idea Lily," Severus said. "Like an individual anti-apparition ward that could be cast just around him similar to the ones at Hogwarts that prevent apparating within the castle."

"Something reminiscent of that," Lily said with a thoughtful look on her face.

A cry from upstairs interrupted their discussion. "I'll get her," Severus volunteered.

"I'll get her bottle," Lily replied.

Severus went upstairs into the nursery. He bent over her crib and Jasmine opened her eyes, gurgling, and waving her tiny fists. He picked her up checking to see if she needed to be changed and discovering her nappy was wet, he quickly put a fresh one on her and then sat down in the rocker.

Lily came in with Jasmine's bottle and handed it to Severus. She sat on the arm of the rocking chair watching him feed her. Once she was finished, Severus lifted her up on his shoulder, gently rubbing his hand up and down her back and then patting it until she gave a loud burp. He then settled her back into his arms rocking her until she fell back to sleep.

He got up and laid her in her crib and covered her with a light blanket. They went back down into the kitchen. Lily made a pot of tea and set out a plate of cinnamon rolls Iris had bought over with her. "We've got to make the spell so it surrounds him completely," Lily said as she wrote it on a piece of parchment.

"It's got to movable so the Aurors can just move him straight to a cell in the Ministry," Severus said. "Or even Azkaban."

Over the next few days, Severus and Lily worked on the spell. Severus agreed to be the guinea pig while Lily cast the spell. Her first attempt with the incantation _Durus Antitheton et Evanesco_ was not successful as Severus was able to get free within a few minutes. After a few days of reworking the incantation, Lily tried again. "_Durus Defensio ut Detineo Defectus_."

This time Severus had a harder time getting free, but he did. He lay on the floor panting and said, "That was much stronger, Lily. I think you almost have it."

"What about if I use Convestio instead of Durus?" She muttered scribbling some words on a piece of paper, biting her bottom lip as she did so and then rearranging the order. "Okay Sev, ready to try again?"

Severus nodded, got up, and stood up straight.

"_Convestio ut Detineo Defectus et Fianto Duri_!"

This time Severus couldn't get free. He tried apparating, he punched the invisible walls attempting to put a hole in them and then he bent and felt along the floor to see if there was a way in which he could throw it off him or crawl out from underneath it, but nothing he tried worked. He was trapped.

"_Exsolvo_!" Lily said giving the counter for it.

Severus sat down on a chair. "This is great, Lily. If we can use it on You-Know-Who, he'll be trapped with no way out."

"But I don't know if he could still use his wand. I think we've done enough for today. I've got to find a spell to make the confinement permanent so they can just lift it with him inside so they don't have to worry about him escaping."

"You'll find it," Severus said. "You've done incredibly well so far."

**~*~* Page Break ~*~***

The next meeting was called a few days later again at the Burrow. Severus and Lily took Jasmine with them as it was Lily's parents' anniversary and Richard had taken Iris out for dinner and they were going to the theatre afterwards.

"Augusta, I'll let you have the floor," Arthur said.

"Thank you, Arthur. I spoke with the Board of Governors and they've agreed to set up a temporary floo network for just the Muggleborn students to use to floo to Hogwarts. The rest of the students will ride the Express as usual. They didn't argue about it as they know I am a retired Auror and I still have many contacts in the Auror Department, but I do need some volunteers. We need to visit and alert all the parents of the Muggleborn students about the change in transportation plans. I am volunteering my services."

"I'll volunteer," Lily said.

"Me too," Alice said.

"I can do it," Molly said.

Pomona, Filius and Remus also volunteered for it.

"Won't Dumbledore or McGonagall notice you're missing?" Reg asked.

"No," Filius shook his head. "Until school starts; our time is our own and what we do with it is none of their business."

"Good. Now I have lists of all the Muggleborns and their residences. I also have lists of their nearest floo connections. If they can't get to it for some reason then they need to contact me and I will arrange to apparate their child to Hogwarts," Augusta said.

"Kingsley and I will set up temporary floos to your office, Pomona's and Remus'," Moody told Filius. "All the student has to do then is shout 'Hogwarts' and they'll end up coming out of one of your floos."

"I'll stay behind and monitor the floos on that morning," Pomona volunteered.

"They're not telling the head clown anything about this, are they?" Sirius asked.

"No, I impressed on them that it needs to be kept quiet because we can't risk You-Know-Who smelling a trap," Augusta said.

"That's not going to stop Dumbledore from sticking his nose into things," Edgar said. "He'll realize something's going on when he spots students walking into Hogwarts before the train arrives in Hogsmeade."

"It'll be too late for the Clown Patrol to interfere at that point," Ned replied with a grin.

"What about things on your end, Alastor?" Arthur asked.

"Scrimgeour has arranged for 20 Aurors to apparate into King's Cross very early in the morning and they'll disillusion themselves. Ten of them will be stationed on Platform 9¾ and ten in King's Cross. They will round up all the Death Eaters and once that's done, they'll join us on the train."

"Anybody else have anything they want to say? Arthur asked.

Severus cleared his throat. "Lily and I have been working on a spell to contain You-Know-Who so he'll be unable to disapparate."

"We haven't tested it with a wand yet either because we really can't test any spells such as Confringo or Bombarda," Lily explained. "But I suspect if You-Know-Who did cast one of those he'd end up either burning himself to death or blowing himself into pieces."

"We're also trying to invent a spell so you can move him while he's still within the confinement and then you don't have to worry about him escaping," Severus added.

"Well, it sounds like a spell that will be very useful in _our_ arsenal," Mad-Eye said.

Jasmine woke up and started to cry. Lily picked her up and grabbed the baby bag she'd brought with her. "Molly, can I borrow a room?"

"You can use Ron's. He's napping but he sleeps so soundly that you don't have to worry about waking him."

"Neville needs a change so I'll come with you," Alice said.

"Thank you," Lily said to Molly.

Molly showed Lily and Alice where the nursery was and then went back to the kitchen while they chatted, changed, and fed Jasmine and Neville.

Over the next two weeks Lily visited Muggleborn parents and worked on her spell. The parents were horrified by what she had to tell them, but calmed down some when she explained about the temporary floos that had been set up to get their children safely to Hogwarts. They agreed not to tell their children how they would be arriving at school until that morning to avoid any unintentional leaks.

The final spell incantation Lily came up with was _Convestio ut Detino Defectus et Fianto Duri Stativis_.

"_Sustollo_!" She said pointing her wand at Severus who was contained by her spell. He felt himself being lifted off the ground and punched the sides of his prison then jumped up and down, trying to break free. Lily moved across the room with Severus hovering above her. "_Contortio_!" Lily said and Severus felt himself starting to whirl inside his prison.

"Okay, enough, Lily or otherwise I'm going to end up making an awful mess all over the floor," Severus called.

Lily smiled and said, "_Desino_." She then lowered him. "I'm sorry Sev, but I wanted to make sure it was really strong and there is absolutely no way for You-Know-Who to escape."

"Let me try something while I'm still in here," Severus said. He pointed his wand and said, "_Evanesco_!" He made a pressing motion all the way around him, but found he was still trapped.

Lily walked over to Severus and put her hand on barrier around him. "I'm going to try apparating you to the kitchen, Sev to see if it will hold up under side-apparition."

"Okay."

They apparated into the kitchen with Severus' face looking more than slightly green.

"_Exsolvo_," Lily said quickly.

Severus ran over to the sink and threw up. "Oh that wasn't fun at all!" He slumped down in a chair at the table and Lily got him a glass of water.

"Sorry, but I wanted see if the bugs were all worked out so I have time to resolve whatever isn't."

"It seems as if you've got those all worked out and it's ready to go," Severus said.

"I'm going to teach it to everybody at the next meeting," Lily decided. "I don't care who captures You-Know-Who."

"The good news is we won't have any interference from the Clown Patrol this time, flying in on their brooms, mooing like a bunch of cows and scaring You-Know-Who off before we can capture him."

"McGonagall, MacDonald, and McKinnon _are_ cows," Lily said.

**~*~* Page Break ~*~***

"You couldn't find anything, Albus?" James complained at the next meeting of the Order of the Phoenix.

Dumbledore shook his head. "I looked through every relevant book in the library in my office and there were absolutely no spells that would get me back through the wards especially since they're specialized wards that are keyed to family magic."

"You can still get into the Burrow if the wards are based on family magic?" James asked Fabian and Gideon. "You can recast the listening spell when Molly and Arthur are gone or the next time they invite you over, can't you?"

They both looked extremely uncomfortable and Gideon said, "We won't do that. It would mean hurting our sister by sneaking into her house when she's not there, abusing hers and Arthur's hospitality, not to mention showing them a huge amount of disrespect."

"Well, what the hell?" James scoffed. "This is a war and we can't worry about hurting anybody's feelings!"

"So we have to wait and read about their success in the paper the next morning just because you two are a couple of wimpy sissies?" Mary sneered. "Who cares if Molly's feeling get hurt? She showed her true character when she left the Order over Snivellus!"

"Go to hell, both of you!" Fabian snapped. "You can insult us however you like because we aren't changing our minds, but you leave our sister alone!"

"What about disillusioning ourselves and following them to find out what they're doing?" Dawlish asked.

"If we had more time, I'd say yes, but I have a strong feeling that whatever is in the works will be occurring shortly," Albus replied.

**~*~* Page Break ~*~***

The meeting of Weasley's Warriors was just finalizing the details for September 1st when the Burrows new wards alerted Arthur that somebody was outside the wards them. He pulled out his wand and got up, but Moody stopped him. "Shacklebolt, Crockford and me will go in case whoever it is means trouble."

They all went outside with their wands at ready, but were back in a few moments with the Prewitt twins marching in front of them.

"Gid, Fab, is anything wrong?" Molly said getting up.

"No, everything's fine," Gideon answered. "We've quit the Order."

"Prick Potter expected us to abuse your hospitality and restore that listening spell Dumbledore had on here and we told them to go to hell!" Fabian added angrily. "He didn't even care that it would hurt Molly and be disrespectful towards you both."

Gideon noticed some of the suspicious looks being directed at them and said, "Look we'll even agree to take Veritaserum. Know Mad-Eye always carries some with him."

"That won't be necessary," Arthur said. "You're welcome to join Weasley's Warriors."

"Much better than the Order of the Clowns," Fabian muttered.

Both were obviously very ticked off about what the Order had expected them to do.

"We were just going over the final details for September 1st and then Lily is going to teach us all a new spell she invented to capture You-Know-Who," Arthur said.

"What happens on September 1st?" Gideon asked.

"You-Know-Who plans on attacking the Hogwarts Express and killing all the Muggleborn students," Molly said.

"Only they won't be on it," Moody said. "We will be along with a whole bunch of Aurors."

"How do you know that?" Fabian asked.

"I've got a lot of different sources as you well know," Moody replied.

"Mad-Eye figures there will be Death Eaters watching at Kings Cross and on Platform 9¾ and so 20 Aurors will apparate there early, disillusion themselves, and capture all the Death Eaters before the train leaves," Kingsley said

"We don't know exactly where the train will be attacked, but we're ready for them whenever it is," Edgar said.

**~*~* Page Break ~*~***

September 1st dawned rather cloudy and cool. Lily ate breakfast and got Jasmine ready to take over to Iris who thought Lily had registration for college today. Lily didn't like lying to her, but figured she'd be a nervous wreck if she knew what she and Sev would really be doing today.

"We'll be fine," Severus assured her. "Like Moody said; we just need to keep to the plan."

"I know," Lily agreed. "And I plan to do just that."

They waited until 10:30 before apparating to an alley three blocks from King's Cross station and quickly walked down the street to the front entrance of the station. They walked in holding hands and proceeded to act like anybody else who was looking for the right train.

Kingsley came up to them and whispered, "We caught all the Death Eaters. You-Know-Who only sent four – two to watch in here and two to watch Platform 9¾. We used Veritaserum on them so we could find out how they were going to signal You-Know-Who that the train was leaving and we'll send him the signal right before the train leaves. I'm letting all our members know that they can go through the barrier and get on the train. We'll be in the very first car."

"Thanks, King. Dinner at the Leaky Cauldron as usual on Tuesday night?" Severus asked.

"I'll be there," Kingsley replied.

Severus and Lily went through the barrier and saw the Hogwarts Express. There was the usual cacophony of meowing cats and hooting owls as well as students shouting to their friends and parents shouting at their children.

"Never thought I'd be voluntarily getting on this again," Severus grumbled.

"At least you don't have to worry about the nincompoop Marauders this time," Lily replied.

Once everybody was settled, the train whistled and began pulling out of the station.

"Everybody stay alert! We don't know where they're going to attack," Moody said. "I'm going to talk to the students next. Everybody's owls have been put in the baggage compartment with their trunks and the door sealed so the students can't get in and their owls can't get out. I've also got Crockford sitting back there just in case though." He opened the door to the next compartment and went in to speak to the students.

**~*~* Page Break ~*~***

Pomona had stayed behind to monitor the floos while Remus and Filius had gone on the train. She knew the Muggleborn students had been given different time to floo to prevent clogging and congestion in the floo system. The students would start coming through at noon. She had put a spell on the floos in Remus' and Filius' offices so that when the students stepped out they would be directed to go to the Great Hall for lunch. She had alerted the elves to have lunch ready. The floos in both Remus' and Filius office sounded and she could hear the voices of the students talking loudly about their holidays. Her floo sounded and four students stepped out. Two of them were students from her house.

"What's going on, Professor Sprout? How come we couldn't ride on the train like always?"

"I don't know except I was informed that some of the student would be arriving by floo today."

**~*~* Page Break ~*~***

Albus was coming down the main staircase intent on getting lunch when he saw three students walking towards the Great Hall.

"Excuse me?" He called.

They turned around as Albus came over to them. "What are you students doing here this early?"

"Somebody from Hogwarts visited our parents stating that we would be flooed to school instead of riding the train, but they didn't say why and neither did my parents," one of the students replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Maybe it broke down."

"Magical trains do not break down like Muggle ones do," Albus huffed. "Excuse me."

He went back upstairs to the seventh floor and knocked on Minerva's office door and waited for her to invite him in.

"Albus, you look upset. What's wrong?"

"Did you know the school governors apparently arranged for the students to floo here? They've already started arriving."

Minerva looked shocked. "Why no I didn't. Why isn't the train running?"

"That's what I would like to know," Albus stated. "I intend to floo them and find out exactly what's going on."

Albus found, however, that none of the governors seem to be available to talk to him.

**~*~*~ Page Break ~*~***

The train had been chugging along for two hours when suddenly the brakes screeched loudly attempting to stop and some people were thrown out of their seats.

"This is it!" Moody said. "Everybody stay out of sight until I give the signal! When you hear me yell Lily's spell, slide open the windows and hit them with everything you've got!"

The engineer stumbled into the compartment white-faced and shaking. "There's a bunch of logs blocking the tracks and there's Death Eaters everywhere," he said and then lowered his voice. "You-Know-Who is out there too and he's demanding that all the Muggleborn students get off the train or he's going to have them dragged out one by one and killed!"

"Alright kids, this is it. I want you to stay down and keep away from the windows. Anybody who sees anybody trying to pull something suspicious; you have my permission to stun them." Moody opened one of the compartment doors, but before he stepped off he yelled over his shoulder, "You kids stay down until I tell you it's safe again." He stepped down and looked over at Voldemort, "Afternoon, Tom. Bet you're surprised to see me, but the Ministry heard you might be planning to attack the train and so they assigned some Aurors to ride with the kids."

"You can't defeat me, Moody. I want all the Mudbloods out here right now and that includes the Mudblood Aurors too."

Can't do that, Tom but I can do something else …_Convestio ut Detino Defectus et Fianto Duri Stativis_," Moody yelled pointing his wand at Voldemort.

When they heard Moody yell the spell, the members of Weasley's Warriors and the other Aurors slid down the windows and began casting every spell and hex they knew at the Death Eaters. Crockford slid open the baggage compartment and stunned the Death Eaters nearest to him. Severus cast his _Rope Your Feet Hex_ and his _Whirling Hex_ while Lily cast the _Comburo Irrito_ while Kingsley cast the _Toenail Hex. _Others cast_ Stupefy's _and _Full Body Binds_ and the _Leg-Locker Curse_. There were so many different spells and hexes coming at them from different directions that any resistance on their parts collapsed immediately. Most of them were hit by more than one spell or hex.

Voldemort screamed in frustration and tried to get out of the shield cast around him. Moody got sick of listening to him. He pointed his wand at him and said, "_Sustollo_!" He lifted Voldemort up and turned him over on his head. "Now shut up like a good boy, Moldyshorts!"

Finally it was over and all the Death Eaters were in various states of incapacitation. "Is everybody alright?" Arthur called as everybody jumped down off the train.

Everybody nodded. The kids at this point were up and looking out the windows. From some of their expressions, it was obvious that their parents were among the now debilitated Death Eaters.

"Let's see who we have here?" Moody kicked one of the Death Eaters over so he was face up. "Adam Avery. Well, you won't be causing anymore problems now, will you?"

"You will pay for this humiliation!" Voldemort screamed. "I am Lord Voldemort! You can't keep me locked up and I will hunt down and kill every last one of you!"

Yeah, yeah, whatever blows your skirt up," Moody sneered at Voldemort. "The only thing you're going to be for the foreseeable future is Lord Shithole because we've got a nice cell waiting for you in Azkaban that's so far underneath the prison that you'll never see the light of day again!" Moody said. "Let's get this piece of dung to his new home," he said to Kingsley. "The rest of you clean up these piles of manure and …" His sentence was interrupted by the sound of a horn blowing loudly.

Everybody looked up to see the Clown Patrol heading their brooms in for a landing. Gideon and Fabian immediately disapparated. They didn't want to deal with Prick Potter. Remus and Filius also disapparated so Dumbledore wouldn't know they had left Hogwarts.

Moody and Kingsley put their hands on the outside of Voldemort's prison and with it between them, disapparated.

The Clown Patrol landed with their mouth hanging open at what they were seeing.

"Looks as if you don't have to worry about You-Know-Who anymore," Ned said. "We captured him."

**_Thanks for reading! Please review._**

**A/N: _Convestio ut Detino Defectus et Fianto Duri Stativis_:** Surround to prevent disappearance and become hard permanently. **_Sustollo_:** to lift up, take away. **_Cortortio_**: Whirl. **_Desino_**: Stop


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